Melrose Minute: Kings need to pick up the pace

The Los Angeles Kings have developed a reputation for being one of the best, most-clutch teams in the NHL over the past few seasons. With two Stanley Cup championships in recent memory, who is going to argue?

That said, we have 14 games left on the schedule and the defending champs are on the outside looking in when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I don't like to use the word panic with this team because I don't think the Kings panic. They've been in too many big games with this current group of players.

But the Kings also are aware of the schedule and where they sit in the standings. And you have to think they're starting to get worried, if they haven't been for a while. I think most people expect the Kings will find a way to get in, myself included. After all, L.A. has a game in hand on the Winnipeg Jets, their closest competition for the final wild card spot into the playoffs in the Western Conference. But the Kings know they need to get on a hot streak and win some games, and maybe get some favors from the rest of the conference. The last 12 or 13 games of a season go fast. They need to get hot now and I imagine their intensity level will be up big time over the final few weeks of the season.

When it's all said and done I expect the Kings to be in the postseason. Whenever they get a game on the schedule that seems close to a must-win, they always seem to get the two points. The Kings have done it before and they certainly have the personnel and character to do it. But the West is so deep and so good that they won't get any easy nights. You can't back your way into the playoffs in this conference. You have to win your way in this year. The Kings can't afford to wait any longer to put together that hot streak and separate themselves from the pack.

BOSTON IS BACK

For most of this season we watched the Boston Bruins struggle, but many observers just thought there was no way they wouldn't somehow climb the standings and make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Well, the Bruins finally are making us all look smart. And while they did lose to the Washington Capitals on Sunday, Boston has been among the best teams in the League lately and looks now to be a safe bet to make the postseason. The Bruins have won seven of nine and have a five-point lead on the Ottawa Senators for the final wild card in the Eastern Conference.

Five points isn't an insurmountable lead, but with the way Boston has played lately and the number of three-point games in the NHL today, it's pretty hard to imagine the Senators picking up six more points in the final 13 games or so than the Bruins.

Lately Boston has been getting fantastic play from forward Brad Marchand, game-winners from forward Milan Lucic, the best play of the season from defenseman Zdeno Chara and big saves when needed by goaltender Tuukka Rask. That's how you win in this League; Boston's best players are playing their best right now.

Supporting players also are kicking in the odd goal, the defense is solid, and if there's ever a breakdown the goalie is there to make the save. This is the same recipe Boston has been using the past five or six years. And don't forget David Krejci could be back by the end of the regular season. That's a huge addition right before the postseason starts.

Right now the Bruins look like the Bruins again. It took longer than most of us expected, but they now are a force in the East. It's gone from a team that looked like everyone might get fired to a team that no one will want to play when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin next month.