Los Angeles Kings: No, That Guy Wearing Number 25 Is Not An Impostor

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EL SEGUNDO, CA — At the same time that fans of the Los Angeles Kings are rejoicing in their team’s early success in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, having eliminated the Vancouver Canucks in five games, and jumping out to a 2-0 lead over the St. Louis Blues in their second round series, they are also scratching their collective heads while asking, in unison…

…who’s wearing number 25, and what did he do with Dustin Penner?

All kidding aside, Penner, who has been the target of so many for his poor play throughout much of the season, has looked nothing like the player who raised the ire of fans, game after game.

In fact, Penner began to raise the level of his play over the last few weeks of the regular season, and it continued to improve in the first round of the playoffs. He scored the game-winning goal in Game 1 of the Kings’ first round series against the Canucks, and tallied an assist in Game 2 of that series, but was held off the scoresheet in the last three games.

But do not let those numbers, or the lack thereof, fool you, as he continued to improve as the series wore on, so much so, that Kings head coach Darryl Sutter moved him up to the second line, with right wing Jeff Carter and center Mike Richards. Read more of this post