Lucky? Maybe.
Destiny? Probably.
Any way you look at it, Dustin Penner’s goal through traffic in overtime against the Phoenix Coyotes last night made official what we already knew from the beginning. The Los Angeles Kings are going to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in franchise history, and the first time since Wayne Gretzky was in uniform.
“I got a lucky bounce,” Penner told the Associated Press. “I just waited for it to settle down, and I got a chance to get it in the net.”
Capping the most improbable run to the championship, the Kings went from eighth-seeded ragamuffins to favorites in NHL Stanley Cup Futures Odds seemingly overnight. Penner’s goal almost 18 minutes into overtime gave Los Angeles it’s 12th win in 14 games this postseason, and the team still has a shot to tie the 1988 Edmonton Oilers for best postseason record ever.
“It’s the biggest goal of my career so far,” Penner told the AP. “Hopefully, there are a couple more waiting in the finals.”
The New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils are beating each other up at the moment, giving the Kings a much-needed rest before the final, where they will clearly be favored. New York has struggled winning back-to-back games, while the Devils have also played a lot of games already. Not Los Angeles. It hasn’t lost more than a game in any series, dispatching each of the top three seeds in the conference.
The Kings took out Presidents’ Cup Trophy winner Vancouver in five games, then followed with a sweep of the second-seeded St. Louis Blues. Then, they bombarded Phoenix’s Mike Smith the entire series with over 35 shots in every game, including 51 last night.
“There hasn’t been much success as an organization, but we’ve got an opportunity to play for the Cup,” Kings captain Dustin Brown told the 
Associated Press. “But there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
The Kings will play Game 1 of the Stanley Cup championship somewhere in New York because the Rangers or Devils will be seeded higher. No problem. That should actually entice bettors more. They went the entire conference playoffs undefeated on the road and have won 10-straight road playoff games dating back to last year.