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Los Angeles Kings Win 2014 NHL Stanley Cup

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  • Los Angeles Kings Win 2014 NHL Stanley Cup

    New York Rangers vs. Los Angeles Kings - Recap - June 13, 2014 - ESPN

    LOS ANGELES -- The longest postseason for the Los Angeles Kings led into the longest game they had ever played. After 94 minutes of impossibly tense hockey, Alec Martinez could scarcely believe it when a rebound off Henrik Lundqvist's pads came straight to his stick.

    "After it went in, I think I blacked out," Martinez said. "I'm just so happy for these guys."

    From their first elimination game seven weeks ago to Martinez's championship-winning goal, these Kings were resilient, relentless and remarkable.

    And now they have the Stanley Cup. Again.

    Martinez scored 14:43 into the second overtime, and the Kings won the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years with a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 5 on Friday night.

    Marian Gaborik scored a tying power-play goal in the third period for the Kings, who rallied from yet another deficit before finishing off the Rangers in the finals' third overtime game at Staples Center.

    Jonathan Quick made 28 saves and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Justin Williams scored an early goal as Los Angeles added a second title to its 2012 championship, the first in the franchise's 47-year history.

    Long an NHL afterthought in their warm-weather city, the Kings have turned into a burgeoning dynasty -- and they've turned Hollywood into a hockey town with two titles, capped by this glamorous finish.

    "We have a team that simply will not be denied," said Williams, a three-time Cup champion after scoring 25 points. "Every Cup is special. What we went through in 2012 (versus) what we went through this year, huge difference, and we really earned it."

    After innumerable chances for both teams in two nail-biting extra periods, Martinez started the final rush with a pass to Kyle Clifford, who dropped it to Tyler Toffoli for a shot. The rebound went straight to Martinez, and the depth defenseman buried it for his fifth goal of the postseason.

    Martinez is becoming a late-game playoff legend after also scoring in overtime in Game 7 against Chicago in the Western Conference finals, but the Kings all see themselves as part of something bigger.

    "I don't know if we're part of (a dynasty) yet, but hopefully we're on our way to that," defenseman Drew Doughty said. "I believe this group could be at that point, but it's going to take a lot of work."

    The Kings rocketed off the bench and gathered for a huge group hug near the Rangers' net before the handshake line and the Stanley Cup ceremony featuring captain Dustin Brown's second chance to take the 35-pound silver trophy from Commissioner Gary Bettman.

    While his players went crazy, coach Darryl Sutter nonchalantly walked onto the ice with almost no celebration of his second title. He wore a broad grin when he raised the Cup above his head several minutes later.

    Brown swiftly handed the Cup to Robyn Regehr, the veteran defenseman and first-time NHL champion who never got back in the Kings' lineup after his May 3 knee injury. Regehr handed it to Gaborik, the goal-scoring dynamo and late-season acquisition who led the playoffs with 14 goals to win the first title of his 13-season NHL career.

    The trophy soon went to Doughty and Jeff Carter, who became the seventh and eighth players to win an Olympic gold medal and the Stanley Cup in the same year. Leading scorer Anze Kopitar raised it for the second time, and Quick gave a triumphant shout after his turn.
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