LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings’ 45-year Stanley Cup quest ended in a triumphant flurry of blood, sweat and power-play goals. After missing two chances to claim the title last week, the long-suffering Kings are NHL champions for the first time.
Jeff Carter and Trevor Lewis scored two goals apiece, playoff MVP Jonathan Quick made 17 saves in his latest stellar performance, and the Kings beat the New Jersey Devils 6-1 Monday night in Game 6 of the finals, becoming the first eighth-seeded playoff team to win the league title.
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Captain Dustin Brown had a goal and two assists for Los Angeles, which ended its dominant postseason run before a frenzied bunch of its heartiest fans, incessantly waving towels and glowsticks. The crowd including several dozen Kings faithful who have been at rinkside since the team’s berth as an expansion franchise in 1967, waiting for one glimpse of the Stanley Cup.
After taking a 3-0 series lead and then losing two potential clinching games last week, the Kings finished ferociously at Staples Center just when the Devils appeared to have a chance for one of the biggest comebacks in finals history.
One penalty abruptly changed the tone. Brown, Carter and Lewis scored during a five-minute power play in the first period after Steve Bernier was ejected for boarding Rob Scuderi, leaving the veteran defenseman in a pool of blood. Quick took it from there, finishing a star-making two months by allowing just seven goals in six finals games.
“You never know. You get to the dance, you never know what’s going to happen,” Brown said. “We calmed down after losing two. It was the first time we had done that all playoffs, and we finally got off to a good start.”
Martin Brodeur stopped 19 shots for the Eastern Conference champion Devils, just the third team to force a Game 6 in the finals after falling into an 0-3 hole. Rookie Adam Henrique ended Quick’s shutout bid late in the second period after the Kings had built a 4-0 lead, but Lewis and Matt Greene added late goals for the Kings.
“We never lost our confidence,” Quick said. “We had to take it on the chin to keep moving, losing two, and we looked at it as, ‘Hey, we still have to win one game to win a championship. And we have two chances.’ Finally, we were able to do it at home.”
The Kings went 16-4 after barely making the playoffs, eliminating the top three seeds in the Western Conference in overwhelming fashion. Although the Devils gave them a little trouble, the Kings took down every opponent in their path after an inconsistent regular season.
“Every single guy worked so hard for us this season,” said defenseman Drew Doughty, who began the year as a contract holdout and finished with six points in the finals, including two assists in the clincher. “Everyone deserves this. We got used to each other, we developed a chemistry, and we just went sailing from there.”
Los Angeles boasted a talented, balanced roster that peaked at the perfect time under midseason coaching hire Darryl Sutter. Brown, just the second American-born captain to raise the Cup, accomplished what even Wayne Gretzky couldn’t do in eight years in Los Angeles.
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