2014 Stanley Cup Finals

2014 Stanley Cup Finals
2014 Stanley Cup Finals
	* – Denotes overtime period(s)
Location(s)	New York City: Madison Square Garden (3, 4); Los Angeles: Staples Center (1, 2, 5)
Coaches	NY Rangers: Alain Vigneault; Los Angeles: Darryl Sutter
Captains	NY Rangers: Vacant; Los Angeles: Dustin Brown
National anthems	NY Rangers: John Amirante; Los Angeles: The Tenors (1); Los Angeles::Pia Toscano (2, 5)
Referees	Steve Kozari (1, 3, 5); Brad Watson (1, 3, 5); Wes McCauley (2, 4); Dan O'Halloran (2, 4)
Dates	June 4 – June 13, 2014
MVP	Justin Williams (Kings)
Series-winning goal	Alec Martinez (14:43, 2OT, G5)
Hall of Famers	Rangers:; Henrik Lundqvist (2023); Martin St. Louis (2018)
Networks	Canada:; (English): CBC; (French): RDS; United States:; (English): NBC (1–2, 5), NBCSN (3–4)
Announcers	(CBC) Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, and Glenn Healy; (RDS) Pierre Houde and Marc Denis; (NBC/NBCSN) Kenny Albert (1), Mike Emrick (2–5), Eddie Olczyk, and Pierre McGuire; (NHL International) Dave Strader and Joe Micheletti

The 2014 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2013–14 season, and the culmination of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. The League realigned its divisions prior to the season, and changed the structure of the playoffs, but the championship series remained the same. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Kings defeated the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers four games to one to win their second championship in franchise history, marking the first time since 2007 that the championship series was determined in fewer than six games. Their Stanley Cup–winning run of 26 playoff games was later tied by the 2019 St. Louis Blues for the longest of any Stanley Cup–winning team in history.^[1]

Los Angeles had home ice advantage in the series, as the Kings finished with a better regular season record than the Rangers. The series started on June 4 and ended on June 13 with the Kings winning their second Stanley Cup in three seasons. It was the first meeting between teams from New York City and Los Angeles for a major professional sports championship since the Yankees and the Dodgers played in the 1981 World Series.^[2]^[3] Coincidentally, 1981 was also the last time the Rangers and the Kings had met in the postseason; that was the last season where the league did not use a geographical based playoff format and as a result any two teams could meet in any round of the postseason regardless of geography. In 1981 the Rangers eliminated the Kings during the first round of the playoffs.^[2]

^ Cite error: The named reference Kings win Stanley Cup was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Branch, John (June 4, 2014). "New York vs. Los Angeles: Rivalry Revived". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
^ Barnes, Mike (June 1, 2014). "Stanley Cup Final: Kings vs. Rangers in L.A.-New York Championship Duel". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 15, 2015.

[Kings_win_Stanley_Cup-1] Cite error: The named reference Kings win Stanley Cup was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1981WS-2] Branch, John (June 4, 2014). "New York vs. Los Angeles: Rivalry Revived". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 20, 2022.

[3] Barnes, Mike (June 1, 2014). "Stanley Cup Final: Kings vs. Rangers in L.A.-New York Championship Duel". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 15, 2015.

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