LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup the hard way, ending
their marathon playoff run with a double overtime thriller.
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started with the Kings having to dig themselves out of a three-game hole against
San Jose ended Friday night in a 3-2 double-overtime triumph over the New York
Rangers to seal their second Cup in three seasons. The final lasted five games,
with three going to overtime -- including two double OT contests. It was the
only playoff series that didnt go the distance for the Kings. Alec Martinezs
winner at 14:43 of the second overtime was a fitting conclusion to a post-season
slog that saw the Kings run a gauntlet of Western Conference heavyweights before
dispatching the speedy Rangers in the final. It was the 26th game of the Los
Angles playoff run, matching the single-year league record set by Philadelphia
in 1987 and Calgary in 2004, who both lost seven-game series in the final. L.A.
did set a record for most playoff games by a Cup winner. The Kings had to go
through a murderers row in the West just to get to the final after finishing
10th in the league with a 46-26-8 record and 100 points. Los Angles had to get
by San Jose (111 points), Anaheim (116) and defending champion Chicago (107) in
one of the most gruelling post-season routes on record. They overcame a 3-2
series deficit in the second round against Anaheim and rallied from 2-0, 3-2 and
4-3 deficits in Game 7 of the Western Conference final in Chicago. Their latest
campaign lasted 115 games, counting seven pre-season, 82 regular-season and a
record 26 post-season contests. Los Angeles went 7-0 in playoff elimination
games along the way. Only the 1975 Islanders won more (eight). The Kings are
only the fourth team in playoff history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit in
rallying to beat the Sharks in the first round. And they are the first team to
play -- and win -- three Game 7s on the road in a single post-season. Throughout
it all burned the belief that if the Kings played their game, they knew they
were tough to beat. "We really earned it," said forward Justin Williams, named
winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after opening the scoring with
his ninth goal and 25th point of the post-season. "Its been a wild year," said
forward Jeff Carter. "A lot of hockey, a lot of ups and downs ... We had to dig
deep. We really had to battle." Like teammate Drew Doughty, Carter won Olympic
gold and hoisted the Cup in 2014. "A hell of a year," he said. "Couldnt ask for
anything more." Captain Dustin Brown hoisted the Cup first, then handed it off
to veteran defenceman Robyn Regehr, a spectator since suffering an injury in
Game 1 of the Anaheim series. Brown sacrificed his body to get to the Cup,
delivering 125 hits in the post-season. The native of Ithaca, N.Y., is the first
U.S.-born captain to win multiple Stanley Cups. Family and friends packed the
ice as fans pressed their nose to the glass to watch the post-game partying.
Coach Darryl Sutter watched with a smile, his son Christopher -- who has Down
Syndrome -- hoisting the Cup in the celebration. "You got to give these guys
full marks," he said simply of his players. The Kings squandered 3-0 series
leads both times en route to hoisting the Cup. But they got the job done in five
games -- three wins coming via overtime -- this time compared to six against New
Jersey in 2012. Los Angeles remarkable road to this Cup was long and tortuous.
It was an edge-of-your-seat record-setting ride though all-comers that will be
hard to beat. Martinez ended the longest game in Kings history, surpassing Game
5 of the 2013 Western Conference final (91:40), by wristing home a rebound of a
Tyler Toffoli shot to seal the Cup. "I havent been married and I havent had kids
but as far as Im concerned so far this is the greatest feeling in the world,"
Martinez said. "It came out pretty quick," he said of the rebound. "I just tried
to get it on net then I blacked out." It was the 17th Stanley Cup-clinching
overtime goal in NHL history. Martinez eliminated the Chicago Blackhawks in OT
in Game 7 of the Western Conference final at Chicago on June 1. According to the
Elias Sports Bureau, he joins Martin Gelinas (Calgary, 2004) and Adam Henrique
(New Jersey, 2012) as the only players in NHL history to notch two
series-clinching overtime goals in one post-season. Amazingly Los Angeles did
not hold a lead in the first three games of the final. The Kings led for just
14.6 per cent of the first four games -- a 40:01 stretch that was all in Game 3.
The Kings trailed 2-0 the first two games of the series but rallied both times
to win in OT. The Rangers probably deserved better. "Obviously everybodys very
disappointed in the outcome," said New York coach Alain Vigneault whose team
went past Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Montreal en route to the Rangers first
final in 20 years. "You go into this hoping that you dont regret anything. We
put it out there," he added. "We gave our best shot, best effort. Three games
here all went to OT. What can I say?" The never-say-die Kings, who trailed by
two goals four times in the first two games of the final, proved once again that
the third period is their domain. They have four victories this post-season when
trailing after two periods. And in mounting the latest comeback, they put an end
to New Yorks remarkable 5-0 record in elimination games. The win improved the
Kings playoff overtime record in 2014 to 5-2. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist kept
the Rangers in the game for the second outing in a row. The elegant Swede stood
on his head for much of the evening, especially when push came to shove. "During
the regular time he made some big saves. I thought in the overtime, though,
thats when we played our better hockey of the night," said Vigneault. "Had some
real good looks. Both goaltenders were outstanding." Lundqvist ended the evening
face down in disbelief. He may still be shaking his head. The contest started
slowly and took its time to boil, but finished in nail-biting, adrenalin-pumping
end-to-end fashion. The third period was all Kings as a goal by Marian Gaborik
pulled Los Angeles even at 2-2 some eight minutes in. Gaborik knocking in a
rebound of a Doughty wrister from the point at 7:56. It was his 14th of the
playoffs -- following a season in which he had 11 goals in 41 games. Los Angeles
outshot New York 12-3 in the period and 29-15 in regulation time. The shots were
42-25 for L.A. after four periods of hockey and 51-30 when the dust settled.
Overtime was a thrill ride as both teams hit the post and Los Angeles poured it
on. The Kings also had to kill off a minor penalty in each overtime. New York
defenceman Ryan McDonagh hit the post with a blast from the blue-line in the
first OT period. Toffoli also rang a shot off the post, some 13 minutes in.
Lundqvist stopped Williams twice at point-blank range during one sequence late
in overtime as the Kings turned the screws. Then the Rangers mounted two
assaults on the L.A. goal before Chris Kreider fired wide on a semi-breakaway.
In the second overtime, a Dan Girardi shot clipped the outside of the Kings post
and L.A. goalie Jonathan Quick make several key saves. Kreider and Brian Boyle
scored for the Rangers in a 3:53 stretch late in the second period -- the first
on the power-play, the second short-handed -- as New York clawed its way back to
lead 2-1 after 40 minutes that saw just 12 shots on the L.A. goal. That New York
outburst silenced the sellout crowd of 18,713 at Staples Center. The Rangers
were 11-1 when leading after two periods in the playoffs and had won 39 of 43
games in that scenario including the regular season. But L.A. refused to go
quietly. The Kings have outscored their opponents 30-16 in the third period this
post-season, including 3-0 in the Cup final. Fridays game was the 93rd game of
the 2014 playoffs, surpassing the previous single-year record of 92 established
in 1991. It was also the 63rd post-season game for the Kings dating to 2012,
tying the NHL record for most games over a three-year span (Dallas, 1998-00;
Detroit: 2007-09). It was the 25th post-season game for the Rangers, who
finished 12th in the league at 45-31-6 and 96 points but still made it to their
first final in 20 years by eliminating Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Montreal.
Going into Friday, the Rangers were 5-0 when facing elimination. Lundqvist led
the way in such games with a 1.00 goals-against average and .971 save
percentage. The Rangers record in elimination matches is now 11-3 dating back to
2012. New York hadnt got a shot on target by the time the Kings went ahead at
6:04, with Williams scoring on a deft backhand as linemates Jarret Stoll and
Dwight King poked away at Lundqvist after a shot from the point by
Willie Mitchell. It took New York almost eight minutes to record a shot on goal.
That followed a third period in Game 4 in which they only managed one shot. It
took the Kings some 27 minutes to crack double digits in shots. New York,
frustrated for stretches by the L.A. forecheck, was stuck at seven. The New York
power play, 1-for-19 in the final up until then, finally clicked at 15:37 of the
second period as Kreider tipped in a McDonagh feed from the faceoff circle to
tie it at 1-1. McDonagh threaded the pass through three Kings to set up the
goal, which came on the Rangers 11th shot of the night. McDonagh, who turned 25
on Friday, becomes the first player to record a point on his birthday in the Cup
final since Jari Kurri did it in 1990 for the Oilers. Boyle then scored
shorthanded to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 19:30. The big man deftly roofed
the puck after a nice curl-and-drag past Doughty, with New Yorks Dominic Moore
in the penalty box for hooking. The speedy Carl Hagelin triggered the play,
beating defenceman Slava Voynov to the puck, as Boyle notched his third of the
post-season. The Rangers third short-handed goal of the playoffs had Moore
celebrating in the box. The Kings ranked 26th in the league in average goals per
game during the regular season, averaging 2.42 a game. It helped that they led
the league with just 2.05 goals against per game. They found their scoring touch
in the playoffs, leading all teams with an average of 3.40 goals a game going
into Friday. It was the 26th overtime game of the playoffs, tied for the
third-highest total in one year (the record of 28 was set in 1993). Los Angeles
is the 17th team in NHL history to win the Cup in overtime and the first to do
so at home since the 1908 Islanders.
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for induction Wednesday.PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia 76ers have acquired
veteran forward Andrei Kirilenko, a second-round pick in the 2020 draft, guard
Jorge Gutierrez and cash considerations from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for
forward Brandon Davies.The Sixers also receive the right to swap Clevelands
second round pick in 2018 (which Philadelphia acquired during the off-season)
with Brooklyns own second round pick that year.Kirilenko is in 13th NBA season
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spending his first 10 seasons with the Jazz.
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Kirilenko is averaging 12 points, six rebounds and three assists per game over
his career.Gutierrez was eligible for the 2012 NBA Draft following his senior
season at California. He was named the 2012 Pac-12 Player of the Year and
Defensive Player of the Year.In a related move, the Sixers waived Malcom Lee.
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