Dustin Brown was taken off the Kings' top line during Wednesday's practice. Brown skated on the third line with Dwight King and Trevor Lewis. The Kings' first line hasn't been effective in the playoffs and Brown is one of the players that's been struggling. He has just two goals and three points in 10 games, although he also leads the team with 46 hits.

Dustin Brown has been named a finalist for the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award. He has served as Kings' captain for the past five seasons and is frequently among the league leaders for hits. Brown supports several charities through his physical style. He donates $50 for each hit he delivers which has helped him raise $60,000.

Dustin Brown scored a power-play goal in the Kings' 4-3 victory on Thursday. Brown has been quiet in the playoffs from an offensive production standpoint, but perhaps this is a turning point. He was one of Los Angeles' heroes last year with eight goals and 20 points in their Stanley Cup winning run.

Dustin Brown cautioned against his team going to far in an effort to get retribution for Raffi Torres' hit on Jarret Stoll. Stoll was knocked out of the game after Torres' shoulder appeared to make contact with Stoll's head. "You don't want to see a guy, a teammate get hurt like that," Brown said. "It's important to understand there's ways to do it within the rules and ways to do it throughout a series within the rules, and that's what we have to do, regardless of what happens. Again, it's playoffs, and the best retribution is winning games right now." The Kings will get a chance to take a 2-0 lead on the Sharks on Thursday.

Dustin Brown said the Los Angeles Kings will have to be even better on the penalty kill during their second-round series against the San Jose Sharks. "They really thrive on their power play," Brown said. "You look at their stretches during the regular season when they went on those tears, it's because their power play was really good. Our PK was good last series, but it's going to have to be even better against these guys." Brown and the Kings had the fourth-best PK unit through the first round, but the Sharks scored seven power-play goals in just four games, tied for the league lead with two teams that played six and seven games in their series.

Dustin Brown said Monday's comeback win in Game 4 reminded him of the team's Stanley Cup run last summer. "I think there was a lot of things reminiscent of last year," Brown said. "Part of it was our will. We didn't give up. We were down 2-0 early. Down 3-2 going into the third. You have (Jonathan) Quick making big saves. Our best players were being our best players." The Kings have looked outmatched against the Blues more than once during this series, but it's hard to disagree with Brown after watching Game 4. Last year's Kings never seemed out of a game, no matter how many goals they trailed by. We'll see if the momentum carries over to Game 5.

Dustin Brown had eight hits on Saturday as the Kings defeated St. Louis 1-0. Brown now has 20 hits in three games to lead the NHL thus far as he is five hits ahead of the Blues Ryan Reaves. Brown also has a power play goal and four penalty minutes in the playoffs.

Right winger Dustin Brown scored his first goal of the playoffs midway through the first period Thursday night but that was all the scoring for the Los Angeles Kings as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Blues in St. Louis. The loss means that the Stanley Cup defending champions are down 2-0 in this opening round of the playoffs against the Blues. The Kings have scored only two goals in the first two games, while the Blues have recorded four. Brown's goal, his first of the post-season, was scored on a Kings' power play. Assists went to Mike Richards and Anze Kopitar, their first assists of the playoffs. Clearly, the Kings need more offense to bounce back in this series, especially from their big gunners such as Richards and Kopitar.

Dustin Brown will be back with Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams in Game 2 Thursday night. The two wingers had been playing with Mike Richards as their center, while Kopitar played between Jeff Carter and Dustin Penner. Richards will have Carter and Dwight King on his flanks to start Game 2.

Dustin Brown's streak of 314 consecutive games played is officially over. Brown's streak didn't end because he got hurt, but instead because he elbowed Minnesota's Jason Pominville in the face. Without their captain, the Kings suffered a 3-1 loss to Detroit on Wednesday. Brown is eligible to return for the start of the playoffs, but his absence is hurting their chances of securing the fourth seed.