Editing Los Angeles Kings (section)

===Return to the playoffs (2009–2011)===
[[File:Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty (22959833135).jpg|thumb|upright|Drafted by the Kings in the late 2000s, [[Anže Kopitar|Anze Kopitar]] (left) and [[Drew Doughty]] (right) helped the team become playoff contenders in the early 2010s.]]
During the 2009–10 season, the team had built a consistent roster with goaltender [[Jonathan Quick]], defenseman [[Drew Doughty]], and forwards [[Dustin Brown (ice hockey)|Dustin Brown]], [[Anže Kopitar|Anze Kopitar]] and [[Justin Williams]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=507114|title=Kings' rebuilding plan ahead of schedule|author=Rosen, Dan|date=November 22, 2009|publisher=Los Angeles Kings|access-date=January 5, 2016}}</ref> Finishing sixth overall in the West with 101 points, just the third 100-plus point season in franchise history, and establishing a franchise record with a nine-game unbeaten streak, the Kings returned to the playoffs, where they lost to a highly skilled third seeded [[Vancouver Canucks]] team in six games.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/playoffs/2010/columns/story?columnist=lebrun_pierre&id=5136029|title=Stars are the difference for Canucks|author-link=Pierre LeBrun |author=LeBrun, Pierre|publisher=ESPN|date=April 6, 2010|access-date=January 5, 2016}}</ref>

The Kings entered the [[2011 Stanley Cup playoffs|2011 playoffs]] as the seventh seed in the West and played the second seeded [[San Jose Sharks]] in the first round. Despite Anze Kopitar's absence with injury, the Kings pushed the series to six games until an overtime goal by [[Joe Thornton]] qualified the Sharks.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=310425008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427103724/http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=310425008|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 27, 2011|title=Joe Thornton's OT goal sends Sharks to first-round series win|agency=Associated Press|publisher=ESPN|date=April 26, 2011|access-date=June 18, 2014}}</ref>