Sharks Flip Script (la kings)

What in the world is a Joonas Donskoi?

Is it a foreign food delicacy?

Is it a brand of luxury automobile?

I sit a fracking technique? A form of currency? Or, a faraway tropical vacation destination?

None of the above.

Joonas Donskoi is a young Finn forward who is responsible for heroically slaying the NHL dragon known as the Los Angeles Kings. His teammates affectionately refer to Donskoi as "Donkey".

The Sharks have advanced past the first round for the first time since 2013.

The Kings defeated the Sharks in the second round in 2013 and the first round in 2014.

Paybacks are a bitch, eh?

Donskoi scored two beauties, including the go ahead goal less than four minutes into the third period, and the Sharks mauled and eliminated the Kings from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a macho 6-3 win in Game 5.

Many observers and pundits--- yours truly NOT included-- had picked the Kings to represent the Kings in yet another Stanley Cup Final later this spring.

In the end, the Kings' fatal flaw was it's loose, slow, and beat up blue line that allowed Donskoi, Joe Pavelski, Patty Marleau, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture and the Sharks forwards to win down low battles on the boards and to roam freely in Jonathon Quick's end of the rink in prime scoring areas, with pucks on their sticks.

San Jose gave LA all that it could handle in the five games they played. The Kings appeared to have no answer for Pete DeBoer's aggressive fore check and tremendous back pressure. In the final analysis, the Sharks were the better team on each and every shift of this series. They dominated time of possession 5 on 5, and they won the special teams battles.

Martin Jones, who was traded from the Kings to the Boston Bruins then moved to the Sharks last summer was responsible for biting the Kings' forwards in the ass. Kings GM Dean Lombardi will wear egg on his face for a long time having lost in the first round to a goalie that he traded away the summer before.

Plain and simple, Jones outplayed Quick.

Many critics are slamming Lombardi's trade deadline acquisitions of Vinny Lecavalier , Luke Schenn and Rob Scuderi. All thre castoffs from other NHL organizations. Decent players, however, not the difference makers that the Kings and their fans felt they needed.

Lombardi's hands have been tied for year because of his team's success. The more they win Cups, the higher the salaries he has to pay it's core players. Lombardi had zero dollars in his budget to pull off a trade deadline blockbuster trade to improve his team's D corps.

This summer will be one of massive changes for Lombardi.

The Kings GM will likely trade his captain Dustin Brown and Marian Gaborik's huge salaries.

Brown, 31, has $5.875 AAV times four seasons. Gaborik, often injured, is 34 years old and has four years remaining at $4.875M. Jeff Carter, 31, has four years remaining on his contract at $5,272,727 AAV.

Lombardi will also have to make critical decision on UFAs Milan Lucic, Trevor Lewis and Kris Versteeg.

The Sharks will now rest up and recover from the physical series with the Kings and will next face the winner of the Anaheim Ducks vs. Nashville Predators series in the second round.

The Ducks and Preds are tied 2-2 and play Saturday night.

"I haven't been around here for some of the stuff that's gone on in the past, but I'm sure for some guys, they felt like we exorcised some demons tonight," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer told the Sharks website after the round one thumping of the Kings. "For the group in general, it was just a well-earned victory."

San Jose took an early 3-0 lead and appeared to be cruising to the finish line when suddenly the Kings scored three unanswered goals in the second period to tie the game and to tee up a thrilling third period of football on ice.

Sharks captain and team MVP Joe Pavelski said that there was no panic in the room despite losing it's three stacks of house money. Unlike in playoff series past with the Kings, the Sharks bit down hard on their mouth pieces, cleared their minds, and went back to work in the third period.

"The message to the group (after 40 minutes) was more about we're here, we're in this position, it doesn't really matter how we got here," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said.

"We'd like to perform a little better with a 3-0 lead but we're in a position where 20 minutes will work and win a period and close out a series. Guys really grasped on to that."

Pavelski and his crew exorcized old demons and extricated bad memories of playoffs past by going a perfect 5-0 (including playoffs) at the once hard-to-play-at Staples Center.

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