As everyone watched the first half of the LA Kings’ series against the Chicago Blackhawks, there was already speculation about how happy NHL commissioner Gary Bettman might be if the Kings faced the New York Rangers in the final. Would he be quite happy? Very happy? Festive? Jubilant? Ecstatic?
The NHL’s two biggest markets will be pitted against one another for the first time for the Cup – two markets in which hockey’s popularity can still grow a lot, certainly versus the alternatives (particularly Montreal-Chicago). So now the league is probably quite pleased, and will go about focusing its efforts on making sure there are as many eyeballs on the coastal battle. Expect a few more NHL jokes shoe-horned into Jimmy Fallon’s monologues over at NHL-friendly NBC, for instance.
And the rest of us? Sure, we’re happy too. But then, how much happier can you really be with hockey after watching the Kings-Blackhawks series, the final three games of which were each a sort of epic, pushed to the maximum time and then some, with endless swings in momentum, unexpected (often bizarre) goals and spectacular saves followed immediately by spectacularly blown ones. The scoring was intense and at times totally brilliant.
Take, for instance, Patrick Kane’s winner Friday night in LA that pushed the series to the brink:
Sunday night, the Blackhawks built on that and came out strong early, grabbing two goals before the halfway mark of the first period, including a power play goal from captain Jonathan Toews. But as they did in Game 2 against Chicago, the Kings battled back.
Jeff Carter scored his ninth of the post-season, and under a minute later Justin Williams grabbed his seventh to tie things. Chicago’s Patrick Sharp then made it 3-2 just before the end of the first 20 minutes, but LA struck midway through the second, as Tyler Toffoli got his seventh of the playoffs to tie it yet again.
One more from Sharp on the power play late in the second looked as though it might seal the deal for Chicago, but just past the halfway mark of the third, this happened:
In a series with a its share of banked-in or redirected shots, it came as little surprise. Should Corey Crawford have saved that? Perhaps. Should Niklas Hjalmarsson checked Gaborik a bit closer? Maybe. But it gave us what we all really wanted from the series. Or, as the @TweetOfGod put it:
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) June 2, 2014Stanley Cup Playoff Game 7 OT hockey is why I created time.
They only needed five minutes and 47 seconds of it. “Mr Game 7” Justin Williams forechecked along the boards, fed it around Alec Martinez at the point, and …
That was that. Goodbye Stanley Cup champions of 2013, welcome back Stanley Cup champions of 2012. Waiting for them? The New York Rangers.
Even if they don’t win the Cup, the Rangers have proved that a team owned by Jim Dolan can succeed. An interesting, but seemingly under-read post at New York magazine noted the differences between the Rangers organisation and structure and that of the New York Knicks and how they perhaps hint at how the latter could start winning (finally). Simply put, Dolan needs to take his hands off the steering wheel.
From NYmag.com:
Maybe he just doesn’t care enough about hockey to involve himself. Perhaps he sees the Knicks as the most important Garden tenant, and focuses his attention on them. More likely, he doesn’t think he knows enough about hockey to interfere. But whatever the reasons, Dolan hasn’t been known to order Rangers trades, handpick personnel, or otherwise overrule his hockey people, led by GM Glen Sather. His job, as best as anyone can tell, has been limited to two things: being loyal to Sather (even when doing so wasn’t popular with fans), and opening up his checkbook when necessary …
The result isn't just a good team; it's a functional organisation. Few teams in sports produce as much drama as the Knicks. They're an entire franchise with baggage. The Rangers, though, increasingly feel like any other good team that does many things right, some things wrong, and remains competitive year after year. That likely wouldn't have happened if Dolan hadn't stayed out of the way.
Success has not come easily for the Rangers. This has been a long postseason already, as they played the first two rounds to their fullest, needing seven games to get past the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. They will now face a Western champion that is fast, big, and recently experienced at winning the Cup.
The Rangers will need all the rest they can get in anticipation of being battered and bruised by a deep offensive team with serious defensive chops. They will rely on Henrik Lundqvist to play as well as he can, but the memory of the Habs at their most physical and speedy just last week is still fresh. That’s what the Kings look like all the time. He’d better get ready.
So just how difficult will it be for the Rangers to beat the Kings? That depends. Here are three things to watch for.
Goaltending
On paper, the matchup between Jonathan Quick (LA) and Henrik Lundqvist (NYR) looks like a tight one. Both goalies are known for making acrobatic saves (like, for instance, this one Lundqvist made against Montreal in Game 6), and being able to keep their team in contests that might otherwise be a lost cause. But a weird thing has been happening in these playoffs – both men are getting scored on. A lot.
In the last five games, Lundqvist has posted a .915 save percentage, which looks pretty good. But that figured hides his performance in Game 5, where he only faced 19 shots but let 15 go by, and was chased from his net halfway through the second period.
“I was too slow. I was just not good enough,” he told reporters afterwards.
And while he improved in Game 6, that speed could be key. The Habs were flying that night, playing a physical, fast game that looked a bit like … well, like a certain Western champion. Can Lundqvist be fast enough to hold off the Kings?
At the other end of the rink, Jonathan Quick can be inhumanly mesmerizing when called upon by the Kings to save the day. But he, too, appeared very human indeed against the Blackhawks. In three games, Chicago managed 13 goals against him. Can he stem the tide?
Are the Kings tired?
Quick’s performance in goal might be all the more important if his team is as tired as they perhaps ought to be after the Western final. As described above, the nature of this series with Chicago means the Kings will be battered and probably somewhat exhausted.
Take Game 7, Sunday night. Defenceman Drew Doughty put in just over 29 minutes of ice time. Jake Muzzin notched slightly over 27 minutes. Even the Kings’ forwards were pumping out the minutes. Anze Kopitar was on the ice for more than 25 minutes. Those were big minutes against a big, tough team. Can they continue that pace now?
The big names
A straight comparison of the two teams in the playoffs reveals a bit of a gulf. New York’s top point-getters are Martin St Louis, Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan, each with 13 points in the postseason. St Louis has scored six goals in the Rangers' 20 playoff games – matched only by Carl Hagelin.
The Kings have played one more game these playoffs, and it’s quickly obvious what kind of games those must have been. Anze Kopitar already has 24 points, with five of those being goals. Jeff Carter, 22, including nine goals. Marian Gaborik has tallied 19 points so far, including a team-leading 12 goals. Justin Williams has seven goals so far – the same as Tyler Toffoli.
The Kings have had to play some high-scoring teams, with three games needing six goals to finish the job. Only two games the Rangers so far this postseason has seen six goals scored by one side: Game 1 against the Habs, when the Rangers went on a rampage, scoring seven on the night; and Game 5, when the Habs also scored seven and chased Lundqvist back to the dressing room. Otherwise, the Rangers have kept things close.
LA will look to push New York to play their game: fast, physical, and with plenty of goals. The Rangers are capable of doing the first two, but the third? Can the Rangers match the Kings’ firepower? Perhaps not.
Prediction
Lundqvist will be ready, but LA’s physical game and scoring capability will triumph. Kings in five.
Stanley Cup Final Game 1, New York Rangers vs LA Kings, Wednesday 4 June, 8pm ET
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