Jon Quick

The Colorado Avalanche are coming off an emotional win on Wednesday night against the Florida Panthers.  The Avalanche overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period and were led by forward Peter Mueller, who missed almost 20 months with concussion symptoms.

The goaltender is arguably the most important position on any hockey team.

In the NHL, the best goalies are worth their weight in gold and are a paid handsomely.

With that being said, there are some teams that are fortunate enough to have a strong goaltender who doesn't make a ton of money compared to the stars. These are known as the bargain goaltenders.

Running a shutout streak at over 126 minutes, Jonathan Quick has been stellar in goal for Los Angeles this season.

Los Angeles has looked more and more like the contender we expected to see coming into the season, and Quick has played a big part in that, stopping all 55 shots he’s seen in wins against St. Louis and Phoenix.

The Islanders are building a significant young corps of key hockey players with Stars like John Tavares, Michael Grabner and a right-handed shooting power play quarterback and Olympic defenseman Mark Streit playing out of Switzerland.  With this International appeal, the Islanders are in dire need of the goalie they are missing out on in the Rick DiPietro bust.

Two possible elimination games are being played today that will help clear up a muddled Western Conference playoff picture. The Detroit Red Wings have already punched their ticket to the Western Conference semifinals with an impressive sweep of the Phoenix Coyotes. However, for the rest of the teams battling to advance, their future is not so bright.

There was no lack of suspense on the second eve of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as six teams did battle for Game One of the playoffs, two of them for the first time ever.

The second seed Philadelphia Flyers took on the seventh seed Buffalo Sabres in the east along with third and sixth seed Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens respectively. In the west the high-powered San Jose Sharks battled the war-torn Los Angeles Kings in what turned out to be a much closer match than anticipated. 

In many ways it's the least important game of the playoffs.

The second game is always a must win for the loser of the first, game three is always a big momentum shifter, and game four and beyond are always must wins for either one or both sides.

And after the first round, the games only become bigger as the competition gets tougher and the Cup gets closer.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are right around the corner.

This slideshow is dedicated solely to the LA Kings fans.

The Kings have had their ups and downs this year on their way to getting into the top eight of Western Conference but now seem to be gunning to locking up a position.

Currently, in the tight Western Conference playoff race, the Kings sit in fifth place of the Conference at 41-26-6 for 88 points.

They haven't quite locked up a playoff spot as the 10th place team, the Calgary Flames, sit just three points away from them.

Two of the hottest teams in the NHL collide tonight in Columbus, Ohio as the Blue Jackets host the Los Angeles Kings. 

Columbus (28-23-5) has been on a roll lately, winning five of their last six games. LA (31-22-3) has a 9-game unbeaten streak, going 7-0-2 during that stretch. The Kings are on a brutal 10-game road swing but are finding success, going 4-0-2 in the first six games of their longest road trip of season.

The two Western Conference rivals have their goalies to thank for their recent winning streaks.

The Los Angeles Kings took on the Pittsburgh Penguins in a cross-conference matchup yesterday at the Consol Energy Center.

The Penguins came into the game missing forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz to injury and Matt Cooke to a suspension. So, four players were recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate.