So here we go. We have the Western Conference Champions the Los Angeles Kings taking on the Eastern Conference Champions the New York Rangers. For the Rangers, this marks their eleventh appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, and they will seek their fifth Cup championship overall and their first one since 1994, twenty years earlier. Getting to the Finals wasn't exactly an easy task for the Blueshirts. In the opening round, the Rangers knocked off the Flyers in seven games, then followed it up with a seven game series win over Pittsburgh. In the 2nd round series, the Rangers had to overcome a 3-1 deficit to pull out the victory. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens in six games to win their first Eastern Conference championship in twenty years. In the process, the Rangers became the first team to ever play two full seven-game series in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and still reach the Stanley Cup Finals. The Rangers were also the first team since the 1972–73 Chicago Black Hawks to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals without a full-time captain.
As for the Los Angeles Kings, this marks their third appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in five games in 1993, and beating the New Jersey Devils in six games in 2012 to win their first ever title. Much of the core players from the Kings' 2012 championship remained on the team. Los Angeles had a bit tougher route to get to the finals than the Rangers did. Los Angeles needed three consecutive game sevens to advance to the Cup Finals (breaking the aforementioned Rangers' game sevens record just a couple of days later). They became just the fourth team in NHL playoff history to come back from a 3–0 deficit to win a series, defeating the San Jose Sharks in the first round. The Kings followed that up by eliminated the Anaheim Ducks, and then capped it off by beating the defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Finals.
This is the third playoff meeting for these two teams, with the Rangers having won both of their previous playoff series against the Kings, the most recent meeting was in the preliminary round of the 1981 playoffs, a best of five series which the Rangers won 3–1. The Kings and Rangers split this year's two-game regular season series, and haven't faced off against each other since October.
Here are the dates, times and TV channels for every possible game in this finals:
June 4 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center CBC, NBC
June 7 New York Rangers 7:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center CBC, NBC
June 9 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden CBC, NBCSN
June 11 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden CBC, NBCSN
June 13 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center CBC, NBC
June 16 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden CBC, NBC
June 18 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center CBC, NBC
So now that we know how these teams got here and when they are going to be playing, lets take a deeper look at how they actually stack up.
Goaltending:
Jonathan Quick vs. Henrik Lundqvist
This is going to be a pretty solid matchup, but at the same time it almost doesn't even seem fair. Jonathan Quick has been good in this years playoffs. He's got a 2.86 goals against and a .906 save percentage, which are pretty good numbers. But here's the thing with Quick. He has been good but not great. See when the Kings won the Cup back in 2012, Quick was outstanding, with a goals against under two and a save percentage near .950. He stood on his head, helping carry the Kings to the title that year, walking away with playoff MVP honors. This year he has at times looked like that goalie, but for the most part has been average at best. Henrik Lundqvist, on the other hand, has been absolutely phenomenal in this years playoffs. Hank has a goals against average of 2.03 and a save percentage of .928. He has stood on his head more often than not in this years playoffs, keeping the Rangers in most games when the offense hasn't quite showed up. Hank this year seems to be playing the way Quick did two years ago.
Advangae: Rangers
Defense
There's really two ways to break down this aspect of the game. From an offensive perspective, the Kings have the advantage. Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez and Slava Voynov have been providing a scoring punch from the back end, which has been a big help to the Kings in the playoffs. While the Rangers can't match the scoring punch of the Kings from the blueline, Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal and Anton Stralman have done a great job of shutting down the opposition. The Kings defense can score but they haven't really been able to help out Jonathan Quick in net, while the Rangers have been able to lend plenty of support to Henrik Lundqvist in their nets. Both teams we know can shut down the opposition, but they end up balancing each other out.
Advantage: Even
Scoring
Here's where you're going to see a stark contrast. Both teams we know can roll four lines, they have been doing it quite well all playoffs long. The Rangers are a team built around speed. The Kings are too, but they have more of a physical presence to their game as well. New York has gotten contributions from everybody in the lineup, with Martin St. Louis and Derek Stepan leading the charge in points with 13 each. St. Louis leads the team in goals with six, while Ryan McDonagh leads the way with ten assists. As for the Kings, they boast four of the top ten scores in this years playoffs. Anze Kopitar leads the league with 24 points. Jeff Carter has over 20 points in this years playoffs, Marian Gaborik leads all goal scorers with 12 and Justin Williams has thrown in 18 points as well. Both teams can score, but the Kings have put yup the better numbers. The Rangers have scored four or more goals in a game in this years playoffs six times in the twenty games they played. Meanwhile the Kings have scored four or more goals nine times in the 21 games they have played. Sure the Rangers have balance, but the Kings have balance and their top gunners going at the right time. Here's another aspect to take into account. Right now the Kings top scorers have been producing, Kopitar is leading the league in points while Gaborik leads the way in goals. Sure the Kings get contributions from their role players, but their best forwards are playing like it. The Rangers can't say the same thing at the moment. St. Louis, Richards and Nash have gone cold near the end of the East Finals, the team having to rely on the role players near the end of the last round to power the offense. That could lead to trouble for the Rangers in the finals.
Advantage: Kings
Prediction
This is going to be a highly entertaining series. Home ice advantage isn't going to matter at all, as the home teams have struggled a little during this years playoffs. Lundqvist has played at the top of his game and then some, during this years run, placing him to be a possible favorite for playoff MVP. The Rangers defense has been solid and the Blueshirts have been able to roll their four lines really well. That goes along with the Rangers speed, which they have used to their advantage. Here's where the teams differ. Sure Hank has played better than Quick, but at the end of the day its the scoring and physical play that is going to win out. The Kings play a more physical brand of hockey, something the Rangers have had a little trouble dealing with in this years playoffs. The Kings do score a lot of goals, not exactly the prettiest of goals, but still they find a way to get to the net to score. Los Angeles will use their physical play to wear down the Rangers over the course of the series, and with their top scorers going at full tilt, something the Rangers top scorers can't say at the moment, this series will belong to the Kings, putting the Stanley Cup back in Southern California
Kings in 7!
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