5 things to know about the 2014 Stanley Cup Final
Here are five things you need to know ahead of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final between the New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings.
20,000 Leagues
In terms of pure team quality, the Rangers probably aren't as good as the Chicago Blackhawks, the Kings' Western Conference final opponent. The Rangers are deeper than Chicago, though, which could make all the difference against an equally deep Kings side.
The Kings' overall quality forced Chicago coach Joel Quenneville to make myriad adjustments in the Western final, because L.A.'s depth and quality rendered the Blackhawks juggernaut a three-line team.
That'll be more difficult for the Kings to accomplish against the deeper Rangers, a team that isn't doing odd things like hiding Michal Handzus on the second line, or wilfully playing their second-best center (Marcus Kruger) on the fourth line. The Rangers are deep throughout their lineup and it's unlikely that the Kings will be able to force Rangers coach Alain Vigneault to staple three forwards to the bench.
New York's third line of Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, and Benoit Pouliot have been a wrecking crew, exploiting tertiary competition throughout the postseason. Similarly, Los Angeles has played Justin Williams and Mike Richards on their third and fourth lines, so both teams have an embarrassment of skill and talent beyond their top-six.
This series will be contested between two teams that, while not necessarily the NHL's best, are certainly the deepest.
Different approaches from very different coaches
Kings coach Darryl Sutter is unintentionally hilarious, a rancher through-and-through, and as old school an NHL bench boss you'll find.
Vigneault couldn't be more different. He cracks jokes, but most of them are repetitive and rarely any good; he's a perpetual tourist (at the time this profile was written, he'd lived in Manhattan for eight months and was still telling stories about jumbo-sized rats); and he manages his roster in a hyper-modern, new-age manner.
While Sutter tends to go strength-on-strength, doesn't worry much about matchups, and deploys his lineup in a balanced matter, Vigneault makes his living picking at the soft underbelly of his opponent's lineup, obsesses over matchups, and zone-matches to such an extreme degree that his fourth line has more in common with an NFL special teams unit than the "energy lines" of yore.
While Vigneault and Sutter are basically a study in contrasts, their respective lineups are similar in their construction: solid goaltending, stellar defense, and forward depth. Vigneault will surely use every trick in the book to try and upset the Kings. Sutter is a safe bet to keep it simple.
When it comes to coaching matchups, Old School vs. New School is pretty much the best subplot in the book. We've got it in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.
Royal and overwhelming
The Kings are averaging nearly 3.5 goals per game in the playoffs, and have scored .78 more goals per playoff game than the Rangers. Los Angeles' offensive arsenal is potent, and while the Rangers have the depth to give the Kings some difficulty, it's also probable that they'll be overwhelmed at the top-end of the lineup.
Consider this: the Kings have outscored their opponents 17-9 in the postseason with Anze Kopitar on the ice at even strength. Now consider this: Kopitar has been hard-matched against Joe Thornton, Ryan Getzlaf, and Jonathan Toews this spring. No disrespect intended to Rangers centers Derek Stepan and Brad Richards, but they aren't Thornton, Toews, and Getzlaf.
For New York's depth and speed to matter, they'll need to contain Kopitar's group, and Jeff Carter's line with Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli. It's a big ask, even for a club that employs shutdown defenders as good as Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi, and Anton Stralman.
Staying alive
The Rangers and Kings have both battled their fair share of adversity this spring, and both teams proved up to the task.
The Kings fell behind 3-0 in their opening-round series against the San Jose Sharks, but battled back to win Game 7 on the road. Then Los Angeles fell behind 3-2 in their second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks, but battled back to win the series, again on the road in Game 7. The Kings overcame a two-goal deficit to eliminate the Blackhawks in Game 7 of the Western Confernece final - on the road. The Kings are 7-0 when facing elimination.
The Rangers' path to the Stanley Cup Final hasn't been quite so dramatic, but they've repeatedly proven their "gut-check" bonafides. They won a Game 7 in the opening round against the Philadelphia Flyers, and overcame a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round. New York's 4-0 when facing elimination.
These are two veteran teams, and both have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to swing back hard when their backs are against the wall. The Kings are favored, and should be, but this series should prove a dogfight either way.
A goaltending mismatch?
During the 2011-12 season, Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and Kings netminder Jonathan Quick were clearly the two best puck-stopping humans on the planet. Lundqvist narrowly edged Quick in Vezina Trophy voting, but Quick led the Kings to the franchise's first Stanley Cup and was named playoff MVP. Lundqvist's Rangers were eliminated by the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference final.
Since then, their fortunes have diverged enormously. Lundqvist remains among the best goalies in the league, while Quick has struggled to find his championship form.
Lundqvist has posted the fourth best even-strength save percentage over the past two seasons, among regular starters who've logged at least 3,000 minutes at even strength. Quick comes in 20th among 27 goalies that qualify, and hasn't managed to outperform his backups.
Lundqvist's advantage has been even more pronounced this spring:
[Courtesy: NHL.com]
Anything can happen over a seven-game series, of course, and Quick often manages to rise to the occasion. But if there's one reason to believe the Rangers can upset the Kings and win their fifth Stanley Cup, it's Lundqvist.