2014 Stanley Cup Final

Paths to the Finals

This was the eighth championship meeting between Los Angeles and New York City teams across major professional sports, following four World Series and three NBA Finals. The Rangers made their 11th Stanley Cup Final appearance, seeking a fifth championship and their first since 1994. Their only subsequent postseason highlights had been Conference Finals appearances in 1997 and 2012. Before the season, the Rangers and Vancouver Canucks swapped head coaches: New York hired Alain Vigneault after Vancouver fired John Tortorella, while the Canucks hired Tortorella.

Vigneault led the Rangers to 96 points and second place in the Metropolitan Division. On March 5, the Rangers traded captain Ryan Callahan to Tampa Bay for Martin St. Louis, who had been unhappy about his initial Olympic omission by Steve Yzerman. In the playoffs, New York eliminated Philadelphia in seven games, overcame a 3–1 series deficit against Pittsburgh, and defeated Montreal in six games to win the Eastern Conference. They became the first team to play two full seven-game series in the first two rounds and reach the Final.

Without a captain after trading Callahan, the Rangers were the first team since the 1972–73 Chicago Black Hawks to reach the Final without a captain. Mats Zuccarello became the first Norwegian to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Los Angeles made its third Final appearance, seeking a second Cup after winning in 2012.

Game summaries

In game one, the Kings overcame a 2–0 first-period deficit to win 3–2 in overtime. Benoit Pouliot scored on a breakaway after stealing the puck from Drew Doughty, and Carl Hagelin added a short-handed goal off a rebound from Slava Voynov's skate. Kyle Clifford cut the lead to 2–1 late in the first, and Doughty tied it in the second. After a scoreless third period in which Los Angeles outshot New York 20–3, Justin Williams scored the overtime winner on a pass from Mike Richards after Daniel Girardi turned over the puck.

Game two saw the Kings overcome three two-goal deficits to win 5–4 in double overtime. Ryan McDonagh and Mats Zuccarello gave the Rangers a 2–0 lead in the first period. Jarret Stoll cut the lead to 2–1 in the second, but Martin St. Louis and Derick Brassard pushed New York ahead 4–2. Dwight King's controversial goal early in the third made it 4–3.

Los Angeles became the first team in Stanley Cup playoffs history to overcome three consecutive two-goal deficits, including their game seven win against Chicago in the Western Conference Final.

Stanley Cup engraving

Commissioner Gary Bettman presented the Stanley Cup to Kings captain Dustin Brown after Los Angeles won game five 3–2 in overtime. Jeff Schultz, who did not play in the regular season but appeared in seven playoff games (none in the Final), was granted an exemption for engraving. Mike Richards was engraved as Michael. Robyn Regehr became the first player born in Brazil to win the Stanley Cup. Ryan Van Asten, Chris Pikosky, Denver Wilson, and Bobby Halfacre were not engraved but appeared in the team picture. Six players on the Final roster were left off the engraving for not qualifying: Colin Fraser, Linden Vey, Andy Andreoff, Andrew Bodnarchuk, Jean-Francois Berube, and Brayden McNabb. Fraser had his name engraved for Los Angeles in 2012 and Chicago in 2013.

Television

In the United States, NBCSN broadcast games three and four, while NBC televised the others. Game two was moved to NBC after the Belmont Stakes. Due to a family death, NBC lead announcer Mike Emrick missed game one; Kenny Albert filled in.