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Mike Smith was frustrated after his Phoenix Coyotes were eliminated in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final. He saw his MVP performance fall short of the Stanley Cup Final. His gaffe led to a Los Angeles Kings goal. And at one point, he had to play without a glove.

Whether or not that earns him leeway is up to you. Just keep that in mind as you read Smith torching the officiating and calling for Dustin Brown to receive a massive suspension for his OT hit on Michal Rozsival.

First, on Brown (s/t Jared Cohen), Smith said:

"When Brown gets away with something like that after the whistle — knee on knee, that's a dangerous play. If Raffi Torres gets 25 games for his hit during the play, this guy should be done forever."

Forever seems like a long time for a hit that was thigh-on-thigh. But Smith also had very harsh words for the referees — both in Game 5 and throughout the season.

Getty ImagesNo. 1 Star: Dustin Penner, Los Angeles Kings

Penner's 2-point night gave him 10 points this postseason, a career best for him. His assist set up Mike Richards' goal in the second period, but it was his own goal that gave the Kings a 4-3 overtime victory to put them into the Stanley Cup Final:

No. 2 Star: Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings

Quick stood tall making 38 saves as the Kings won their eighth straight road game in the playoffs becoming the first team to reach the Final doing so, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He came up big early in the first period with this save on Radim Vrbata:

No. 3 Star: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings

Doughty's two points were involved in tying goals early in the game. His assist in the first period helped set up Anze Kopitar's shorthanded tally, while his goal midway through the second period tied the game 2-2.

The Los Angeles Kings are skating to the Stanley Cup Final, but the story after Game 5 of the Western Conference Final was the hit Dustin Brown put on Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Michal Rozsival right after an offside whistle — on the shift preceding Dustin Penner's series-winning goal in overtime.

Was it a penalty? Should it be a suspension? NBC Sports Network's Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick saw this one in slightly different ways.

To summarize: Milbury felt the hit by Brown, a player with a reputation for playing "on the edge," was well after the whistle and should have been avoided. Roenick felt it was humanly impossible to avoid the hit at that velocity, and that it was a clean hit.

Said Brown after the game: "He's trying to get away of the way, and I'm trying to finish my check. I didn't stick my knee out."

For a team that's gone from punchline to champion, Dustin Penner was the perfect player to send the Los Angeles Kings to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final. His goal at 17:42 of overtime gave the Kings a 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 5, and head to the Cup Final for the first time since 1993.

But after the Kings' celebration, the real drama started: The most contentious, hostile handshake line in recent memory, as the Coyotes players verbally assailed Kings captain Dustin Brown, whose controversial hit took out defenseman Michal Rozsival moments before Penner's goal with no penalty called:

Here's another look at the handshake line:

Back by popular demand, here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

In which timelines collide and coaches from four different teams yell at each other about goonery. whilst Pierre McGuire — whom we suspect may be an exiled Time Lord — watches on. We'd love a velvet painting of this. [via reader Tony Vela]

Game 5 Preview: Los Angeles Kings at Phoenix Coyotes, 9 p.m. EST. (Kings lead, 3-1) The Coyotes face elimination again, as the Kings take their undefeated (7-0) show on the road. The first goal looms mighty big in this game, as Shane Doan told LA Kings Insider: "I think it just calms (teams) down to a certain degree, so they know we're doing things right, things are going your way. I think confidence is everything in the playoffs, just because everyone is so, so close. With everyone being that close, feeling confident is big."

Check out previews and updated scores for all of today's games on the Y! Sports NHL scores and scheds page. For tonight's starting goalies, check out Left Wing Lock.

Evening Reading

• Listen to today's Marek Vs. Wyshynski here. In which we discuss a Pete DeBoer/John Tortorella barn fight.

gudas

You are looking at a photo of Radko Gudas, a defenseman for the Norfolk Admirals and a prospect for the Tampa Bay Lightning. As you can see, the man has a remarkable playoff beard, arguably one of the best in recent memory.

Bask in it. Just stare at it awhile. We'll wait ...

... OK, too long. You're a creep.

Moving on.

Gudas' "Young Santa Claus" is made all the more remarkable when you consider two additional facts. First, he didn't get a running start on his playoff beard, like Shea Weber did with last year's standout face forest -- according to the team, he started his war bear right around playoff time. The Calder Cup playoffs began on April 19, so the majesty you're seeing really is just over a month's worth of growth.

Second, Gudas is only 22 21 years old. That's ridiculous.

But there's more to this story: As it turns out, Gudas' beard is only in the running for best beard on the team. He's neck and neck with teammates Eric Neilson and Scott Jackson.

APDown 3-1 in their series with the Los Angeles Kings and heading home for Game 5 on Tuesday night, the Phoenix Coyotes will have to accomplish something that hasn't been done since the final two games of the regular season:

Giving the Kings consecutive losses.

In staying alive in the series with a 2-0 win in Game 4, the Coyotes found a way to break through Los Angeles' relentless forecheck. They kept the Kings off the scoreboard for the first time since late March.

Facing such a deficit in the series, the obvious "one game at a time" cliche has and will continue to be broken out by the Coyotes should they extend things.

"We're in the same boat we were the other night," said Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett.

"If we don't play well and we don't win, we go home."

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

Crossing Broad

• Claude Giroux's beer pong adventures are rightfully getting attention on this lovely Tuesday, but it's the double-casted topless cornholing that we're sure a segment of our readership is more interested in. Playoffs leading scorer indeed. [Crossing Broad]

• In case you missed it, the Los Angeles Kings' snarky infographic about being confused with the Sacramento Kings was hilarious. [Kings]

• PK and Malcolm Subban talk race and hockey with Complex. And also, the ladies. Who "pulls the most ladies" in the Subban family? PK says: "Wow, well definitely me. I'm the oldest, I have the most experience, and I'm the best looking. I've been told that on numerous occasions, numerous. Now that doesn't take anything away from my brothers, Malcolm is good looking and Jordan's a good looking guy, too. I mean they are related to me so they get a little bit of the looks. But right now I have to say I have the most experience. I'm a veteran when it comes to that, they're still learning. They have lots of potential. They're like first-round picks right now in the game, they still have to develop." [Complex]

• Coach Bob Hartley's Zurich Lions are ready to bid him adieu as he returns to the NHL. [Swiss Habs]

• Speaking of the Lions, that's where Ryan Shannon of the Tampa Bay Lightning will be for the next three years. [SB Nation]

• What kind of grade would Ville Leino receive for his effort with the Buffalo Sabres? [Die By The Blade]

• In which Shane Doan compares the Phoenix Coyotes' plight to Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail. [Arizona Sports]

• This is so strange: An entire column written about embellishment in the playoffs and how it needs to stop, without a single mention of Mike Smith's flopping. Oh, Arizona Republic you say? Well then. [AZCentral]

• Look, we don't like to judge, but embezzling $144,000 from a Youth Hockey Association is a sort of [expletived] up. [Cap Times]