Alec Martinez hammered home a rebound in double overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings a 3-2 Game 5 win over the New York Rangers and their second Stanley Cup title in three years on Friday night.
In a frenetic overtime period at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, both teams had plenty of chances in the overtimes, with multiple shots clanging off the post for both teams. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick and Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist denied chance after chance.
Marian Gaborik, who was a beast in the crease throughout the playoffs, tied the game in the third period after the Rangers took a 2-1 lead at the end of the second perid on a short-handed goal by Brian Boyle. It was Gaborik’s 14th playoff goal, one short of Wayne Gretzky’s franchise record 15 goals in the 1993 playoffs.
Justin Williams, the leading scorer in the playoffs, won the Conn Smythe trophy as the MVP of the playoffs. Kings captain Dustin Brown triumphantly raised the Stanley Cup to start the festivities.
The Kings became the first team in NHL history to win three Game 7s on the road to make the Stanley Cup finals, and Martinez scored the series-winning goal in overtime in the conference finals against the Chicago Blackhawks to propel them there.
Two years ago, the Kings won the first Stanley Cup title in their franchise’s 45-year history. Fifteen players on the current roster raised the Stanley Cup for the second time as Kings. Seventeen players on the roster had won a Stanley Cup before.