Simply put, the Los Angeles Kings were not widely considered to be a playoff team this season.

Even after a summer in which everyone generally agreed the Kings improved some key areas of their roster, various statistical sites showed their chances to get to the postseason somewhere in the 20 percent range, at best, as the season opened. Which was fair enough, because while they no doubt improved, they hadn’t turned in a winning season since 2017-18. 

There had been obvious, significant overturn on the roster since then, plus a much-needed coaching change, but most of the best players from that era were getting creaky, and the most proven young players on the roster were unspectacular but solid contributors like Alex Iafallo and Adrian Kempe. Not exactly proven commodities.

But then a funny th