As part of Tuesday night’s commencement of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs, the defending champion Los Angeles Kings will again face one of their 2012 victims, the St. Louis Blues. As additional series' get underway later in the week, the New York Rangers-Washington Capitals matchup will officially become the most frequent postseason card since the 2004-05 lockout.
Both first-round fixtures are rematches of last season’s second round and, as an added bonus, the three teams involved who are not the defending champion feature one of the NHL’s three stars of the month for April 2013.
One involves two franchises far removed from their best years and crossing paths for the third year in a row and the fourth time in five tournaments. The other has one party seeking the NHL’s first repeat championship in 15 years and another craving a delectable follow-up on its surprise surge of 2011-12.
The Kings and Blues were in similar states when they met 12 months ago, even if their seeds did not reflect it. Both had reversed their fortunes and rapidly emerged as postseason qualifiers by way of midseason coaching changes, Daryl Sutter succee ...
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Article written by Al Daniel
Kings-Blues or Rangers-Caps: Which NHL Playoff Rematch Is More Compelling?
April 30th, 2013 by Al Daniel Leave a reply »
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