The Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup as the Champions of the NHL, for the 2nd time in the last 3 seasons, beating the New York Rangers in double overtime 3-2, to close out the series in 5 games.
Alec Martinez scored the Cup-winner 14:43 into the 2nd overtime period to give the Kings their 2nd title, after taking 45 years to win their first championship in 2012. Martinez also scored the winning goal in the Western Conference Final, to defeat the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks.
The Conn Smythe Trophy, which is given to the Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, was awarded to Justin Williams of the Kings, who scored 25 points in the playoffs, and who scored the first goal of Game 5. 6:04 into the game, he slipped a backhanded shot off a deflection, between the legs of Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
The score remained 1-0 Kings until 15:37 into the 2nd period, when Chirs Kreider tipped-in a power play goal to tie the score at 1. Then with just 30 seconds remaining in the period, and the Kings on the power play, Brain Boyle scored a short-handed goal to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead after 2 periods.
In the 3rd period, the Kings tied the game at 2, with Marian Gaborik scoring on the power play 7:56 into the period on a wristshot. Gaborik led the entire NHL with 14 goals in the playoffs. The scored remained tied at 2, all the way until the 2nd overtime, when Martinez scored on a wristshot, to end the game and hockey season.
While winning 3 of their 4 games in the Stanley Cup Final in overtime, 2 of them in double overtime, isn’t easy, this was the easiest playoff series for the Kings. Way back in the first round, the San Jose Sharks won the first 3 games of their opening series match-up, then the Kings responded with 4 straight wins, to become only the 4th team ever to come back from a 3-0 series deficit.
In the second round, the Kings took a 2-0 series lead over the Anaheim Ducks, who had the best record in the Western Conference in the regular season. Then the Ducks won the next 3 games, before the Kings won Games 6 and 7 to win that series.
Next up was the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks, who ended the Kings’ chance for back-to-back championships last year in the conference finals. The Blackhawks won the first game, then dropped the next 3, before winning Games 5 and 6, to force a Game 7 in Chicago. The Kings came from behind in that game to win in overtime, and to become the first team ever to win 3 consecutive road Game 7s to earn a place in the Stanley Cup Final.
After those 3 rounds of the playoffs, was there any doubt that the Kings would win the championship, especially since the Western Conference was a much tougher conference all year? The Rangers hung tough, losing Game 1 in overtime, and Game 2 in double overtime, both in Los Angeles. But after a 3-0 home loss in Game 3, the writing was on the wall.
The Rangers did end up winning Game 4 at home 2-1, but it was just a matter of time before it was time to turn out the lights on Eastern Conference Champions. That time came late Friday night, Los Angeles time, and early Saturday morning New York time, as the Los Angeles Kings are once again Champions of the National Hockey League.
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Sports With Frank Thomas
