Stanley Cup Final Review
After eight weeks of battle we are down to the last two. The Los Angeles Kings, vying for their 2nd cup in franchise history (and in three seasons), up against the New York Rangers, going for their 5th cup (2nd in 74 years). Coming into this post season the common opinion was whoever wins the West will win the cup. As that goes the Los Angeles Kings were heavy favourites with the bookmakers.
LOS ANGELES KINGS (P3) vs NEW YORK RANGERS (A3)
GAME 1 - Kings win 3-2 (OT) - GWG: Justin Williams (04:36 OT)
Like most cup finals, in all sports, this one started tentative. Neither side wanting to make too many mistakes early on. Just over midway through the 1st period the Rangers opened the scoring after Benoit Pouliot forced an error from Kings defenseman Drew Doughty at the Rangers blue line. Pouliot skated clear through the neutral zone as Jake Muzzin fell down turning to chase the Rangers forward who went untouched into the Kings zone and slammed a shot high over Jonathan Quick's stick shoulder. The Rangers had a little momentum, that even after a Mats Zuccarello holding penalty gave the Kings a power play they scored again when Carl Hagelin dumped and chased by Slava Voynov and had a shot rebound off Quick and into the net off of Voynov's skate.
The Kings came to life before the end of the 1st. The trio of Jeff Carter, Trevor Lewis, and Kyle Clifford hounded the Rangers into mistakes in their zone and eventually Carter found the puck behind the net and slid it to Clifford who flipped it up high behind Henrik Lundqvist. Just over six minutes into the 2nd period the Kings tied the game. Drew Doughty, who had one of the 2012 finals most memorable goals, received the puck as the late man into the Rangers zone, then deked around Derek Dorsett before firing the puck into the net. The rest of the night the Kings peppered shots on the Rangers goal as Lundqvist recorded 40 saves. Four minutes into overtime the Kings broke out into neutral ice, Tanner Pearson, Mike Richards and Justin Williams entered the Rangers end but lost the puck to a Pouliot poke on the back check. Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi couldn't control the puck with his first touch, dropped to his knees to control a runaway puck but could only flip it up the boards to Richards who found a wide open Williams in the slot and he put the puck in off the post over Lundqvist's stick side.
GAME 2 - Kings win 5-4 (Double OT) - GWG: Dustin Brown (10:26 OT2)
For the third game in a row the LA Kings won in overtime after trailing 2-0 early on. This time they also came back from being 3-1 and 4-2 behind to the Rangers. The score was 2-0 after a period had been played, the goals coming from Ryan McDonagh and Mats Zuccarello. A couple of goals each, LA then NY then LA then NY, in the 2nd from Stoll, St Louis, Mitchell, and Brassard meant the Rangers took a 4-2 lead into the 3rd period.
Then, in the 3rd period, controversy struck. On a play behind the net Kings forward Justin Williams broke free and managed to pass it out to Matt Greene who fired it goalwards. Dwight King got a tip on it and with just over two minutes played in the period King had put the Kings firmly back in the contest. But not fairly if you ask anyone with a vested interest in the Rangers fortunes. Rangers goalie, staff, players, fans, etc. all cry murder that Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was impeded by Dwight King in his efforts to stop the shot. As Justin Williams emerges on the right of the goal and plays the puck out, King who was in a position for support turns around to attempt to get out in front of the crease and give a screen for any shot coming from the blue line. When he does this Rangers defenseman McDonagh pushes him back to keep him where he is, in the crease just to Lundqvist's right. The shot from Greene flies towards King who puts his stick between his open legs and deflects the puck in. As he does this Lundqvist comes in from the side and slightly behind and tries to reach for the puck, this action causes King to feel a weight pushing against his leg and he falls down. This in my mind is a clear goal. Five minutes later former Rangers forward Marian Gaborik scored his league leading 13th goal of this years playoffs to tie the game. Midway through the 2nd overtime period Kings captain Dustin Brown deflected a Willie Mitchell shot passed Lundqvist to give the Kings a commanding lead in the series. They become the first team in history to win three straight Stanley Cup Playoff games after trailing 2-0.
GAME 3 - Kings win 3-0 - GWG: Jeff Carter (19:59.2 1st)
For the first time in ten days the scoreline of an LA Kings game read 1-0 to the Kings. This coming as late as you could probably get it in the 1st period as Jeff Carter beat Lundqvist with just 0.8 seconds remaining. The Kings moved within one win of the Stanley Cup as they blanked the Rangers, becoming the first safe two goal lead of the final. In the build up to the opening goal the Rangers had the chance to dump the puck in the LA zone and get into the 1st intermission at 0-0. Rick Nash tried to do this with just over seven seconds left. The puck was stopped 14 feet into the Kings zone by Slava Voynov who fed it forward to the halfway line where Justin Williams and Jeff Carter found themselves with a late late opportunity. Williams took the puck down the right in the Rangers zone before centering to an open Carter who fired a shot with 1.2 seconds remaining with the puck crossing the goal line 0.4 seconds after leaving his stick. This was a heavy blow for the Rangers players and fans. The already nervous MSG crowd were stunned into silence. A silence they would struggle to fight off early in the 2nd period, and that fight became harder as with just over four minutes into the 2nd Jake Muzzin scored on a wrist shot from the blue line on the power play to put the Rangers into a 2-0 hole. On a 2-on-1 breakaway late in the period Mike Richards had his attempted pass to Trevor Lewis blocked straight back him and he first timed it by Lundqvist to give the Kings a commanding 3-0 lead in the game, and one period later that would result in a 3-0 lead in the series.
GAME 4 - Rangers win 2-1 - GWG: Martin St Louis (06:27 2nd)
Facing elimination and a sweep, the last thing the New York Rangers wanted was to have that happen on home ice and see the Kings celebrate in MSG. They were energized for this game like they hadn't been before in the final. They came out aggressively, chased down pucks and didn't give any room for error to the Kings skaters. Benoit Pouliot made the Rangers hard work pay off when he deflected a John Moore shot passed Jonathan Quick. The intensity was then ramped up further. In the 2nd period the lead was doubled as a shot saved by Quick found it's way to Martin St Louis who knocked in the rebound. With MSG now hundred times louder than the previous game facing elimination it looked as though the sweep was not going to happen. Two minutes after the 2nd goal Kings captain Dustin Brown intercepted a pass and had himself a shorthanded breakaway, he rounded Lundqvist and scored as the penalty just ended, denying him a short handed goal. The Rangers rode Lundqvist's 41 save performance to a win and avoided the sweep. Making this the 15th cup final in a row to last longer than four games.
GAME 5 - Kings win 3-2 (Double OT) - GWG: Alec Martinez (14:43 2OT)
Back in LA for game five. Echoes of 2012 when the Kings took a 3-0 series lead over New Jersey with two overtime wins and a shutout victory, only to drop game four, and five, before winning game six in LA. This time the Kings were ready for the challenge. This time game five was on home ice and this time they would not be heading to a sixth game. Eventual Conn Smythe winner Justin Williams opened the scoring in the 1st period, a shot from the point saved by Lundqvist before a couple of Kings hacked at it until it came to Williams who found the gap. The Rangers responded well, special teams the key, as the 2nd period got over the fifteen minute mark on a power play for a Dwight King high stick they pulled level, Brad Richards finding Ryan McDonagh on the right wing who centered the puck for Chris Kreider to tap in at the far post. Two minutes later and Dominic Moore took a hooking penalty and looked to kill any Ranger momentum, but with thirty seconds left Kreider and Brian Boyle manufactured a short handed chance which Boyle slammed by Quick in the LA net. Just over quarter way through the 3rd and the Rangers were short handed again. This time the Kings took advantage of the extra man and ex-Ranger Marian Gaborik tied it up with his league leading 14th goal of the playoffs. After a stalemate in the 1st OT period the sides created more back and forth in the 2nd. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist faced 51 shots in total, he made his 48th and final save of the 2013-14 season at 14:42 of the 2nd OT period. It was a pad save off Tyler Toffoli who received the puck from Kyle Clifford after Alec Martinez engineered a breakaway after a Rangers attack broke down. Toffoli's shot rebounded into the path of Martinez who just held his position to direct the puck into the net. He then threw his stick away and jumped on the spot like a kid on Christmas morning before he was mobbed by his team mates. Great scenes on the Staples Center ice.
2013-14 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS - LOS ANGELES KINGS
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