Los Angeles Kings advance to Stanley Cup Final, eliminate Phoenix Coyotes in Game 5, 4-3 OT -NHL
Los Angeles Kings continue to make history as they advanced to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in over 19 years by eliminating a sluggish Phoenix Coyotes team in Game 5 of the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Western Conference Playoff
Finals, 4-3, in overtime on Tuesday, May 22, 2012.
Phoenix Coyotes bounced back at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California, to force a Game 5 extension after facing possible elimination following three straight losses to kick the series off.
Heading back to the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona, Phoenix Coyotes expected to continue with the momentum, and to some extent, they did by taking the match into overtime. OT was a Phoenix favourite in their quarterfinal series against Chicago Blackhawks
went into the post-regulation decider five out of six times.
One reason both teams were yearning for a chance at the Stanley Cup was because of their regional locations. Los Angeles and Phoenix are not known to be huge hockey cities, but now, Kings and Coyotes have definitely awoken the sleeping ice hockey fans to
come out in full force once again.
It was back in 1993 when Wayne Gretzky was on the team that Los Angeles saw some hockey spirit, but after that, it was all dull and old again. Jonathan Quick and the current Kings have managed to do it once again and hope on going all the way this time around.
"Things have come together at the right time for us," Kings’ captain Dustin Brown said. "It is one of those things where we are getting contributions from everyone. We’ve had different heroes on different nights, and that goes a long way. It has a snowball
effect, and you don’t have to rely on the same guys each and every night."
Taylor Pyatt got Phoenix the lead at 4:20 of the opener on a power play while Anze Kopitar of Los Angeles levelled it with Kings shorthanded due to the away team being called for having too many men on ice.
The second period was intense as Marc-Antoine Pouliot took the lead for Phoenix but Kings were quick to bounce back with Drew Doughty and Mike Richards adding two straight. Keith Yandle kept Phoenix alive with his first of the postseason at 16:23 as the
third remained scoreless.
Dustin Penner emerged up as the match saviour with his game-winner 17:42 into overtime as Kings took a minute to realise that they had won.
"I have been knocked out in the first round a lot and you think it is going to feel better when you get to the next round, but I don't care when you get knocked out," Coyotes captain Shane Doan said. "It feels awful and you don't want to be a part of it
and you wish you could keep going."
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