The NHL playoffs have been truly spectacular. A lot of fans and analysts have come together and found agreement about this point: The Western Conference Finals series between the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks was one of the better conference finals series in the league’s history, and especially since the lockout that wiped away the 2005 NHL season. The Eastern Conference Finals between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers were also close and exciting, though not on the same level as the Kings and the Blackhawks. The NHL has been better than the NBA over the course of the whole postseason. Everyone’s waiting to see if the Stanley Cup Finals can continue this great run of playoff hockey that began back in April.
2014 NHL Stanley Cup Finals Preview: New York Rangers vs. Los Angeles Kings
This is a series which, on its face, seems like a lopsided series. To be more specific about it, this series feels a lot like the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals, in which the Kings went to the New York-New Jersey area to contest the finals. In 2012, the Kings played the New Jersey Devils and, though the games were close, regularly found a way to win. Their relentless skating produced clutch goals and kept the team a step ahead of the Devils. The Kings got a 3-0 series lead before the Devils rebounded to win twice. Los Angeles was pushed to a sixth game but was then able to win authoritatively on home ice to win its first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
The main differences between 2012 and 2014 for the Kings in the Cup Finals are these:
First, they’ve won a Cup. They know what it takes to get the job done. This is not something the Kings must fear or doubt. They’ve already walked this road and are going to be much more confident than they were in 2012. Yet, in 2012, the Kings were already confident. The distinction to make is that they hesitated a little bit when they went up 3-0 and reached the point where they were one win away from hoisting the Cup. This team, should it get to three wins, will not flinch in its bid to win a second Stanley Cup. The Kings have won three seventh games in these playoffs, and that’s without even playing in the final. They’ve won all their Game 7s on the road, too, and they went through the defending Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks to do it. The Rangers had to work really hard to get past Montreal, but the Canadiens are nothing like the Blackhawks. The Kings enter 2014 in even better position compared to the 2012 edition of this final series of the NHL season.
The second difference, though, is the one the Rangers are going to count on: New York has Henrik Lundqvist in goal, and the Blueshirts are going to try to ride the King to four wins. If Lundqvist is at his best, this series could become a seven-gamer. The Kings, though, probably have much too much for New York.
NHL Betting Series Pick: Kings In 5 Games
