For the first time in the history of the Los Angeles Kings franchise, they are the Stanley Cup Champions!n It took them six games to dispatch the New Jersey Devils, and a 6-1 victory in game six, to claim hockey's ultimate prize. The Kings had taken a 3-0 lead in the series, before the Devils stormed back with victories in games four and five, to force this deciding game six at the Staples Center in LA. The series had been a pretty physical one, and game six was really no different. Hard hitting play was going from the outset, as was the dominance of play by the Kings from the outset. Things got chippy in the opening period when Steve Bernier laid a monster check on Rob Scuderi. Bernier was given a 5 minute major for the hit, as it drew blood from Scuderi's nose, and a game misconduct for intent to injure. Los Angeles took full advantage of the five minute power play and in a big way, scoring three times while on that powerplay. Dustin Brown got the scoring going on this beautiful redirection in front for his 8th of the playoffs:
Brown's goal came at the 11:03 mark, just under a minute into the Kings powerplay. LA's lead would be extended to 2-0 at the 12:45 mark thanks to the 7th goal of the playoffs for Jeff Carter. For Carter, that was his third goal in this series, his first was the Overtime winner in game two and his second coming on the powerplay in the 4-0 shutout in game three. Trevor Lewis capped off the scoring on this extended powerplay with his 2nd of the playoffs at the 15:01 mark of the opening period. The period ended with the kings in the lead in shots and on the scoreboard. They had a 3-0 lead on the scoreboard and a 13-4 lead in shots after the first twenty minutes. The shot totals in the first were the widest margin between shots in any period during the finals, a staggering number.
When the second period got underway, the offensive onslaught continued from the Kings. It took only 1:08 into the 2nd period before Jeff Carter would strike again for his 2nd of the game and 8th of the playoffs to extend the lead to 4-0 for LA. New Jersey was getting really frustrated by this point in the hockey game and their emotions were starting to get the better of them, and it was causing the team to get into more penalty trouble. However the Devils penalty kill, which had been so good during the regular season and for the most part in the playoffs, would bail them out. New Jersey would finally get on the board, for their only score of the game, at the 18:45 mark of the period, when Adam Henrique connected for his 5th of the playoffs and 2nd in the finals. Shots in the 2nd period were again in favor of the Kings 8-6.
New Jersey seemed to show more life in that middle period, especially knowing that their playoff lives were about to end that night. Once we hit the 3rd period the Kings basically went into shutdown mode and were outshot by New Jersey 8-3 in the final period. However the Kings made two of those final three shots count as Trevor Lewis scored his 3rd of the playoffs into an empty net at the 16:15 mark. Then to truly ice the game and the series away at the 16:30 mark, just 15 seconds later, Matt Greene beat Martin Brodeur to seal the deal and clinch the cup for the LA Kings. This is what the final seconds and some of the celebration looked like as pure euphoria took over the Staples Center:
It was really no surprise to anybody that the winner of the Conn Smyth Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs went to LA Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. Quick put up some unreal numbers in this post season going 16-4 in all 20 starts with a 1.41 GAA, to go along with a .946 SV % and 3 shutouts! Quick was so good in the finals, and the playoffs as a whole, that I feel if it wasn't for him playing as well as he did, the Kings would not have made it past the 2nd round. As for the New Jersey Devils, they have nothing at all to be ashamed of. They had to go seven games to beat the Florida Panthers in the opening round, then knocked off Rivals the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers in tough series to get to the finals in the first place, and then have to come back from down 3-0 in the finals to force game six. So hats of to the Devils for a tremendous season.
Now then as we go into the final rap on the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals here are a few interesting notes about the Cup and the finals. The 2012 Stanley Cup Finals marked the first time two American-born captains faced off in the championship series of the NHL as Dustin Brown of Los Angeles battled against Zach Parise of New Jersey. This scenario ensured a second time in league history of an American-born captain leading his team to the Stanley Cup championship. Derian Hatcher of the Dallas Stars was the first American-born captain to do so, leading his team over the Buffalo Sabres in 1999.
These finals guaranteed the lowest-seeded Stanley Cup champion in history. New Jersey, as a fifth seed, won the Stanley Cup in 1995 in the lockout-shortened season. With the Kings' victory, they became the first team ever to win the Stanley Cup as the eighth seed. For the second consecutive Finals, both participating teams' arenas (New Jersey's Prudential Center and Los Angeles' Staples Center) served as host to their first Stanley Cup Finals. The Prudential Center opened prior to the 2007–08 season, while the Staples Center opened in time for the 1999–2000 season. (In 2011, the Boston Bruins' TD Garden and Vancouver Canucks' Rogers Arena, which both opened in within days of one another in September 1995, were the two venues that had the honors.)
The Kings are the fourth consecutive team to win the Stanley Cup after opening the season in Europe as part of the NHL Premiere Series. Previous NHL Premiere participants (Pittsburgh – 2009, Chicago – 2010, Boston – 2011) went on to win the Cup. Jonathan Quick became the third American Conn Smythe Trophy winner, following previous winners Brian Leetch (1994) and Tim Thomas (2011). Not only was Quick the third American to win the Conn Smyth Trophy, but he is the 15th goalie in history to win the Award.
So hats off to the Los Angeles Kings the 2012 Stanley Cup Champions!
(Note: Stats provided by the National Hockey League, NBC Sports, and The Hockey News!)
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