above - Zdeno Chara spears Phoenix forward Patrick Kane after Kane made rude comments about Chara's taxi driving brother-in-law.
Los Angeles - April 20, 2013
The L.A. Kings completed the first round series sweep of the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday night, moving on to the conference semi-finals to face a yet to be determined opponent.
The 3-1 victory thrilled the crowd at the Staples Centre on "Swiffer" night - a night in which fans bring in old brooms to trade in for brand new Swiffers and Swiffer accessories. The irony was not lost on the Kings GM.
"We didn't expect to sweep the series coming in, so no one thought that the sponsorship would be a problem. Turns out that fans wanted to keep the brooms they brought so they could celebrate the potential sweep properly... by beating Coyotes fans with broom handles."
Disappointed sponsors aside, everyone was treated to a fantastic display of hockey.
Cam Ward was outstanding, stopping 41 of 42 shots and earning the game's second star. Chara and Girardi both had 2 points and Kesler scored the series winning goal - which was his first of the playoffs.
The Kings look forward to a week's worth of rest as they await the results of the rest of the first round.
Series stars:
First Star - Cam Ward. 4W, 0.934 SV% 2.17 GAA. Faced 137 shots while only giving up 9 goals.
Second Star - Zdeno Chara. 2 Goals, +7. Scored twice in the series clinching game while shutting down the top Phoenix lines all series.
Third Star - Kris Versteeg. 4 Goals, 2 Assists, +4, 22 shots. Scored 2 game winning goals in the series and was a force all series.
L.A. Kings sweep division rivals in Round 1
