The Los Angeles Kings won their second Stanley Cup in three seasons, defeating the New York Rangers, 3-2, in double overtime at Staples Center in Game 5 of the final on June 13.
Alec Martinez scored the winning goal 14 minutes, 43 seconds into the second overtime to end the longest game in the Kings’ 46 seasons of play.
Kings coach Darryl Sutter said he did not see the puck go into the net.
“At that point, the players are in sort of attrition, trying to get 20 or 30 seconds each,” Sutter said. “There was some ebb and flow in overtime, but I think our whole game was very consistent in terms of we were good in the first shift, we were good in the 20th shift, we were good in the 30th shift.”
Kings right wing Justin Williams, the leading scorer in the Stanley Cup Final with seven points on two goals and five assists, was selected as the recipient of the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“I can’t believe I won that,” said Williams, who scored the game’s first goal. “That will, I don’t think, ever, ever sink in. The guy from Cobourg (Ontario) who played the game he loves and got to be surrounded by a lot of great teammates throughout my years.”
The Kings re-tied the score on Marian Gaborik’s power-play goal 7:56 into the third period off assists by Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter. Gaborik’s 14 goals were the most by any player in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Rangers had taken a 2-1 lead with 30 seconds left in the second period when Brian Boyle fired a slap shot from the left faceoff circle past Kings goalie Jonathan Quick for a power-play goal.
For only the second time in the series, the Kings scored the opening goal, with Williams putting in a rebound of a shot by Dwight King 6:04 into the first period for his ninth goal of the playoffs.
New York tied the score, 1-1, when Chris Kreider tipped in a pass from Ryan McDonagh for a power-play goal at 15:37 of the second period.
The Kings led in shots, 51-30, including a 34-18 advantage in the third period and two overtimes.
Quick made 28 saves, while Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 48.
“It was a hard-fought game,” New York coach Alain Vigneault said. “Every inch on the ice was contested real hard. Both teams were battling at an unreal level.”
The Kings’ 26 playoff games ties the single-season record set by the 1987 Philadelphia Flyers and matched by the Calgary Flames in 2004. Both the Flyers and Flames lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
“I’m not so sure that will ever happen again,” Sutter said. “You talk about 26 games plus how many overtimes? We probably played close to 30 games since the 20th of April. That’s pretty significant. You got to give those guys full marks.”
This was the third time in the series a game has gone into overtime. The Kings won Game 1, 3-2, June 4, and Game 2, 5-4, Saturday, both at Staples Center.
