Kings coach Darryl Sutter: Still the master of playoff upsets

Darryl Sutter knows a thing or two about pulling off big upsets in the NHL playoffs.

The Los Angeles Kings coach is one win away from the Stanley Cup after his eighth-place team eliminated the top three seeds in the Western Conference — the Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks, the No. 2 St. Louis Blues and the Phoenix Coyotes, the third seed as the Pacific Division winners. But the Kings are not the first team in NHL history to accomplish the feat, as reported by the league and repeated by media outlets.

From NHL.com on May 18, 2012:

In fact, it's not even the first time a Sutter-coached team has knocked off the top three seeds en route to the Stanley Cup Final. Sutter, a native of Viking, Alta., was behind the bench of the 2004 Calgary Flames, an underdog club that made the playoffs for the first time in seven years and — like the Kings — marched through all three division champions on the way to a final matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning. In '04, Sutter guided the Flames past (in order) third-seeded Vancouver, first overall Detroit and West No. 2 San Jose.

Though the Flames ultimately fell short eight years ago in a seven-game loss to the Lightning, Sutter is back — after another trio of upsets — for a second chance at glory. With Monday night's 4-0 victory over the Devils, Sutter has a chance to hoist the Cup at home on Wednesday night if Los Angeles can complete the sweep of New Jersey in Game 4 at Staples Center.

"If we win one more game, I hope the San Andreas Fault can take it," said Kings winger Dustin Penner after Game 3.

That's because a victory would cap an incredible postseason, one where Sutter's work with the Kings has been even more impressive than his time with the Flames. Both teams won 10 road games in the playoffs, but the Kings are undefeated away from home. Calgary was the sixth seed in the West, the Kings are eighth. But perhaps most impressive, Sutter has led the Kings to four straight 3-0 series leads, a first in the NHL since the league instituted the four-round best-of-7 format.

After taking over from Terry Murray in December, Sutter clearly has managed to get the Kings to buy into his system and L.A. has received timely goals from its big guns — namely Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar in the final — as well as a Conn Smythe-worthy goaltending performance from Jonathan Quick. All signs point to Sutter and the Kings finishing the job, winning the 45-year-old franchise's first NHL championship and becoming the first eighth-seeded team to claim the Cup.

But even though the Cup will be in the building on Wednesday night, Sutter won't allow himself or his team to look too far ahead.

"Coach says it best, you get nothing for winning three," said veteran Kings defenceman Willie Mitchell to the Globe and Mail. "The last one is always the toughest one."