from Rich Hammond of the OC Register,

The Kings’ final road trip of the season includes games against Vancouver (on Monday) and Calgary (Thursday). The Kings are three points behind the Canucks for second place in the Pacific Division and one point behind the Canucks, and hold one game in hand over both teams.

It stands to reason that if the Kings win both games, and beat non-playoff teams Edmonton and San Jose, they could finish second in the division and have home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Then again, if the Kings struggle on the road this week, they could miss the playoffs entirely.

''It’s in our hands, and that’s how we want it,’’ center Anze Kopitar. ''We don’t necessarily love the position we’re in right now, but everything is still in our hands, and that’s the way we want it.’’

The Kings currently stand on the shakiest of ground. They hold the second and final Western Conference wild-card spot via tiebreaker, because both the Kings and Jets have 92 points with four games remaining.

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