LOS ANGELES – The New York Rangers wanted to even the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals in Game 2 and head back to New York with the series tied at one. However, the Los Angeles Kings had other plans and, like Game 1, the ending was the same.
As was the case in Game 1, the Rangers struck first and jumped out to the lead. Ryan McDonagh’s blast from the point found its way through traffic and past Jonathan Quick at 10:48 of the first period to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Mats Zuccarello jammed home a loose puck with 1:14 left in the period to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. That was the biggest lead that the Rangers would have.
Just 1:46 into the second period, the Kings got on the board when Jarrett Stoll took advantage of a mistake by Henrik Lundqvist, who was way out of his goal, and fired it past a Rangers defender posing as a goalie to make it a 2-1 game. Martin St. Louis gave the Rangers another two goal lead midway through the period with the Rangers on a power play when he blasted a shot as he fell over the glove of Jonathan Quick. Later in the period, with the Kings on the power play, Willie Mitchell brought the Kings to within a goal with a blast from the point.
Just 11 seconds later, Derek Brassard beat Jonathan Quick before the PA announcer could even announce the Kings’ goal to put the Rangers back up by 2 again.
The third period was not without its share of controversy. 1:58 into the period, Kings defenseman Matt Greene drifted a shot on goal from the point, which found its way past Lundqvist and into the net. An irate Lundqvist immediately looked at the officials and screamed for a penalty. Although replays showed that King interfered with Lundqvist, no penalty was called (not to mention King was credited with the goal.) Midway through the third, a former Ranger struck against his old team. Kings forward Marian Gaborik beat Lundqvist to tie the game at 4.
After the score remained tied at the end of regulation, the game went into overtime once again. Both teams nearly ended the game in overtime. Rangers forward Chris Kreider sprung loose on a breakaway, but fired the shot wide. Despite the chances, the game remained tied and went into a second overtime.
In that second overtime, the Kings finally broke the tie midway through the second overtime when Dustin Brown re-directed a Willie Mitchell shot from the point past Lundqvist to give the Kings the 5-4 double overtime win.
The Kings now lead the series 2-0 and will look to put a stranglehold on the series in Game 3. The Rangers, meanwhile, let another two goal lead, a couple of them actually, slip away once again and now find themselves even deeper in a hole. It is at the point where, although it takes four wins to win a series, this next game may very well decide how the remainder of the series plays out. The Stanley Cup Final now shifts back East to Madison Square Garden for Game 3 on Monday night at 8 pm.
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