The 2014 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2013–14 season, and the culmination of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. The League realigned its divisions prior to the season, and changed the structure of the playoffs, but the championship series remained the same. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Kings defeated the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers four games to one to win their second championship in franchise history, marking the first time since that the championship series was determined in fewer than six games. Their Stanley Cup–winning run of 26 playoff games was later tied by the 2019 St. Louis Blues for the longest of any Stanley Cup–winning team in history.
Los Angeles had home ice advantage in the series, as the Kings finished with a better regular season record than the Rangers. The series started on June 4 and ended on June 13 with the Kings winning their second Stanley Cup in three seasons. It was the first meeting between teams from New York City and Los Angeles for a major professional sports championship since the Yankees and the Dodgers played in the 1981 World Series. Coincidentally, 1981 was also the last time the Rangers and the Kings had met in the postseason; that was the last season where the league did not use a geographical based playoff format and as a result any two teams could meet in any round of the postseason regardless of geography. In 1981 the Rangers eliminated the Kings during the first round of the playoffs.
Paths to the Finals
This was the eighth meeting between teams from Los Angeles and New York City for a major professional sports championship. This previously occurred in four World Series (1963, 1977, 1978, 1981), and three NBA Finals (1970, 1972, 1973).
New York Rangers
This was New York's 11th appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, and they were seeking their fifth Cup championship overall and their first one since , 20 years earlier. Since their win in 1994, their only other post-season highlights were reaching the Conference Finals in 1997 and 2012.
The Rangers entered the season after essentially swapping head coaches with the Vancouver Canucks: the Rangers and the Canucks fired John Tortorella and Alain Vigneault, respectively, and then coincidentally hired the other's former coach. While Vancouver, under Tortorella's first year, failed to make the playoffs, Vigneault guided New York to 96 regular season points and second place in the new Metropolitan Division. En route, the Rangers made a major trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 5, acquiring Tampa Bay's captain Martin St. Louis in exchange for their own captain Ryan Callahan. The transaction happened as Callahan and the Rangers were not close to terms on a new contract, while St. Louis was unhappy at his initial omission from the Olympics by Steve Yzerman (general manager of both the Lightning and Team Canada).
In the first round of the playoffs, the Rangers eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games. Then, in the second round against the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York overcame a 3–1 game deficit to win the series.https://www.si.com/nhl/2014/05/14/new-york-rangers-beat-pittsburgh-penguins-game-7 In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens in six games to capture their first Eastern Conference championship in 20 years. In the process, the Rangers became the first team ever to play two full seven-game series in the first two rounds of the playoffs and reach the Stanley Cup Final, a feat later matched and exceeded in the same postseason by the Kings.
Due to trading away captain Ryan Callahan and not naming a successor for the remainder of the season, Rangers were the first team since the 1972–73 Chicago Black Hawks to advance to the Stanley Cup Final without a captain.
By reaching the Finals with the Rangers, Mats Zuccarello made history when he became the first Norwegian to play in the Stanley Cup Final.
Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles made their third appearance in the Stanley Cup Final and sought to capture their second Cup championship after winning it in .
Much of the core from the Kings' 2012 championship remained on the team. Los Angeles made a late regular season trade on March 5, acquiring former Ranger Marian Gaborik from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Matt Frattin and two draft picks. The Kings then finished the regular season in third place in the Pacific Division with 100 points.
The Finals were the only series in the 2014 playoffs in which the Kings had home ice advantage. 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), winning all of them on the road. The team became the fourth team in NHL playoff history to win a seven-game series after losing the first three games, defeating the San Jose Sharks in the first round. The Kings eliminated their local rival Anaheim Ducks next, despite squandering a 2–0 series lead and then facing a 3–2 series deficit. In a rematch of the 2013 Western Conference Final, the Kings defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Final who had forced a seventh game after trailing the series 3–1.
Like their 2012 championship series, the Kings' 2014 Cup Finals was marked by a 3–0 series start of winning the first two games in overtime and the third as a shutout. With their 2014 Stanley Cup win, the Kings have the distinction of winning the first championship after the League's realignment as well as becoming the first team in the salary-cap era to win two championships in the span of three years or less. Their 2012 championship made them also the final team to win the Cup in the League's last full season before the realignment, as the 2012–13 season was shortened by a lockout. The Kings played a record 26 playoff games to win the Stanley Cup, the most ever for a champion (the St. Louis Blues matched this feat in 2019).
Game summaries Number in parentheses represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the entire four rounds of the playoffs
Game one
The Kings overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat the Rangers 3–2 in the first game. New York built their 2–0 lead in the first period by scoring 1:42 apart. Benoit Pouliot scored first on a breakaway after stealing the puck from Drew Doughty, then shooting past Jonathan Quick. Carl Hagelin then recorded a short-handed goal, as his shot was initially blocked by Quick but then rebounded off of Slava Voynov's skate into the net. The Kings' comeback began with Kyle Clifford's goal late in the first period. Clifford shot it in from near the left post after receiving a pass from Jeff Carter. Doughty tied the game in the second period, beating Henrik Lundqvist from the left circle. In the third period, the Kings outshot the Rangers, 20–3, but neither Lundqvist nor Quick allowed any goals. In the final minute of regulation, Quick stopped Hagelin's shot on a breakaway, and seconds later Lundqvist barely kept Carter's wrap-around shot from crossing the goal line. In overtime, Daniel Girardi turned over the puck in the New York zone, leading Mike Richards to pass the puck to Justin Williams, who then put the puck over Lundqvist to win the game. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st NYR Benoit Pouliot (4) Unassisted 13:21 1–0 NYR NYR Carl Hagelin (7) – sh Brian Boyle (5) and Ryan McDonagh (11) 15:03 2–0 NYR LAK Kyle Clifford (1) Jeff Carter (14) 17:33 2–1 NYR 2nd LAK Drew Doughty (5) Justin Williams (12) and Kyle Clifford (4) 06:36 2–2 TIE 3rd None OT LAK Justin Williams (8) Mike Richards (7) 04:36 3–2 LAK Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st LAK Alec Martinez Hooking 09:12 2:00 NYR Mats Zuccarello Holding 14:34 2:00 2nd LAK Jake Muzzin Interference 03:54 2:00 NYR Derick Brassard Boarding 06:45 2:00 LAK Mike Richards Slashing 18:41 2:00 3rd NYR Daniel Girardi Hooking 02:37 2:00 NYR Rick Nash Holding 07:54 2:00 LAK Drew Doughty Embellishment 07:54 2:00 NYR Brian Boyle Slashing 18:24 2:00 OT None Shots by period Team 1 2 3 OT Total 13 9 3 2 27 14 7 20 2 43
Game two
The Kings overcame three two-goal deficits to defeat the Rangers 5–4 in double overtime. Including their game seven victory in the Western Conference Final against the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles became the first team in Stanley Cup playoffs history to overcome three consecutive two-goal deficits. With the first game also going to overtime, it marked the third consecutive year that the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final went to overtime. Ryan McDonagh and Mats Zuccarello scored in the first period to give the Rangers a 2–0 lead. Jarret Stoll then cut New York's lead in half at 1:46 of the second period. The teams then traded power play goals with Martin St. Louis scoring for the Rangers and Willie Mitchell for the Kings. Eleven seconds after Mitchell's goal, Derick Brassard gave New York a 4–2 lead after miscommunication between Mitchell and Jonathan Quick behind the Kings net lead to a turnover. Dwight King's goal to cut the Rangers' lead to 4–3 early in the third period was controversial. King and McDonagh were fighting for position in front of Henrik Lundqvist when Matt Greene shot the puck from the right point. King made contact with Lundqvist in the crease as he touched the puck before it went into the net but no goaltender interference was called: the referee ruled that the contact occurred after the puck already sailed past Lundqvist. Marian Gaborik then tied the game with an unassisted goal at 7:36 of the third during a scramble in front of the New York net. At 10:26 of double overtime, Dustin Brown deflected Mitchell's shot from the left point into the net to give the Kings the 5–4 win. This gave the Kings a 2–0 series lead as the series shifted to New York City, despite never leading in either game during regulation time in Los Angeles.
Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st NYR Ryan McDonagh (4) Dominic Moore (5) 10:48 1–0 NYR NYR Mats Zuccarello (5) Ryan McDonagh (12) and Derick Brassard (5) 18:46 2–0 NYR 2nd LAK Jarret Stoll (3) Justin Williams (13) and Dwight King (7) 01:46 2–1 NYR NYR Martin St. Louis (7) – pp Derek Stepan (9) and Chris Kreider (7) 11:24 3–1 NYR LAK Willie Mitchell (1) – pp Slava Voynov (6) and Justin Williams (14) 14:39 3–2 NYR NYR Derick Brassard (6) Mats Zuccarello (8) 14:50 4–2 NYR 3rd LAK Dwight King (3) Matt Greene (4) and Justin Williams (15) 01:58 4–3 NYR LAK Marian Gaborik (13) Unassisted 07:36 4–4 TIE OT None 2OT LAK Dustin Brown (5) Willie Mitchell (3) and Anze Kopitar (20) 10:26 5–4 LAK Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st LAK Marian Gaborik Tripping 07:58 2:00 NYR Ryan McDonagh Cross-checking 15:06 2:00 2nd LAK Matt Greene Tripping 02:26 2:00 NYR Benoit Pouliot Goaltender interference 07:07 2:00 LAK Bench (served by Kyle Clifford) Too many men on the ice 10:44 2:00 NYR Mats Zuccarello Tripping 12:43 2:00 3rd None OT NYR Dominic Moore High-sticking 10:01 2:00 LAK Justin Williams Interference 11:24 2:00 LAK Jeff Carter Goaltender interference 14:27 2:00 2OT None Shots by period Team 1 2 3 OT 2OT Total 10 12 7 8 1 38 9 11 12 6 6 44
Game three