Why Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup against New Jersey Devils -NHL Special
The Los Angeles Kings run for their first Stanley Cup in franchise history just was not a fluke. It took hard work and team playing to lead them to where they are today, the new Stanley Cup champions.
Kings have come a long way and crossed many barriers to get to the final stage against the New Jersey Devils. Los Angeles eliminated Vancouver Canucks in just five games in the quarterfinals, swept the St. Louis Blues in a clean four-game series and knocked
out Phoenix Coyotes in the Western Conference Finals.
New Jersey Devils probably gave Los Angeles Kings the toughest of times in their postseason run, but eventually, they managed to emerge victorious when the dust settled.
Here is why the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup this year:
Quick Starts
Los Angeles had one plan in mind and that was winning the Stanley Cup. No matter what the critics said about them and the lack of experience going up against the bigger teams, the Kings never took the criticism seriously but stayed focused all the way.
Coming out strong in the opening game and continuing with that same momentum eventually led them to staying on top in each and every series. The same was against New Jersey as they killed the opening three matchups, lost the next two, but eliminated the
Devils in Game 6.
Amazing Goaltending
Jonathan Quick did not with the Conn Smythe Trophy for no reason. There was not a single moment in a game that coach Darryl Sutter had to pull him out choking, instead, he made the opposition choke.
Quick forced Vancouver to eject Roberto Luongo out of just the opening two games and went up against some of the best in the league like Brian Elliott and Martin Brodeur. He maintained an amazing .946 save percentage along with a 1.41 goals-against average
to stay on top.
He even went to the extent of shutting down the New Jersey Devils in Game 3, putting them on the verge of elimination and more frustrated than ever.
On the Road Success
One of the biggest advantages any team can have is being a great team on the road and Los Angeles Kings certainly had that working for them. They lost just one game at home throughout the playoffs and that was against New Jersey Devils, who were trying to
make a comeback.
Other than that, the Kings were just outright amazing when it came to playing the road, which is something that will definitely be a benchmark for teams making a run for the cup in the future.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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