By Jordan Long
On this date in 2012 the L.A. Kings were looking for their first Stanley Cup Championship. They made it to the Final in 1992, only to be beaten by the Montreal Canadians. This time, the Kings wanted a different ending.
The Kings finished the regular season as the 8th seed in the Western Conference with a record of 40-27-15 for a total of 95 points. Heading into the postseason, nobody was giving them a shot to win a series.
First up for them was the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver was the heavy favorite. They ended the regular season with 111 points, most in the NHL. Vancouver was supposed to knock them off early. The Kings had other plans. The Kings took a commanding 3-0 series lead by outscoring Vancouver 9-4. Up until 2011 only 3 teams have ever come back from a 3-0 hole to win the series. Vancouver hoped to be the 4th. They extended the series to a game 5 with a 3-1 victory in game 4, but lost game 5 2-1, ending their season. The Kings moved to the second round.
In the second-round, the St. Louis Blues were no match for the Kings, sweeping them in 4 games. In the Western Conference Finals, the Kings faced the Phoenix Coyotes. L.A. knocked them out in 5 games to reach the Stanley Cup Final.
In the Final, their opponent was the New Jersey Devils who won the Cup in 2003. The Kings rode the hot hand of goaltender Jonathan Quick. The Kings won games 1 and 2 in New Jersey in overtime by the identical scores of 2-1. The series shifted to L.A. The Kings went up 3-0 in the series after shutting out New Jersey in game 3.
The Devils knew history was not on their side. They had to at least win one game to keep the series going. They defeated the Kings in game 4, 3-1 and game 5 2-1.
Game 6 was played on this date in 2011. The Devils expected to be victorious to force a winner’s take all game 7. The Kings knew a win and they would capture their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
The starting goaltenders were the same ones throughout the series. The Devils started their Hall of Fame goaltender, Martin Brodeur, while Quick was on the other side.
It didn’t take long for the Kings to test Brodeur. They kept firing pucks but Brodeur kept stopping them until Dustin Brown beat him on the power play with 8 minutes and 57 seconds left in the 1st period. The Kings scored 2 more goals with the man advantage. They went into the locker room up 3-0. The Devils knew they were in trouble down 3-0. They needed a goal to at least switch momentum of the game.
1 minute and 30 seconds into the 2nd period, Jeff Carter made it 4-0. The Devils finally found the back of the net when Adam Henrique scored with 1 minute and 15 seconds left in the period. The Kings were one period away from winning the Cup.
In the third period, the Kings added two more goals. The final was 6-1 for the Kings. They became the 1st team in NHL history to win the Cup as the 8th seed.
Quick faced 18 shots and made 17 saves. For the Devils, Brodeur struggled. He allowed 5 goals on 24 shots. Quick won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP for his play in the playoffs.
The Kings won another Stanley Cup in 2014. For the Devils, they have yet to reach the Final again. Today we remember the most remarkable postseason run in NHL history, ending with a Stanley Cup Championship for the Kings.
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