New York Rangers face the Los Angeles Kings WATCH FREE: The Stanley Cup Finals!!!! Live Streaming Online tomorrow from Staples Center at 8:00 PM ET
You have to feel for the Rangers. The 2014 Stanley Cup Final could just as easily be 2-1 in their favor or, at worst, a 2-1 deficit to the Los Angeles Kings if not for some unfortunate bounces in the first three games.
But there's a reason the Kings entered the championship series as heavy favorites, and the Rangers are facing as uphill a battle as there could be, down three games to one as Game 5 takes place in Los Angeles.
It's the Mount Everest of tasks-before that heralded mountain challenge became so commercialized that individuals can simply hire a skilled Sherpa to drag their butts up the dangerous terrain.
No, this isn't a Martin St. Louis-is-as-short-as-a-Sherpa setup. But the Rangers could use some serious help right now.
Until Game 3, the Kings were content-or at least greatly capable of-doing things the hard way. They got their first lead in the Stanley Cup Final in the dying seconds of the first period, something they hadn't done since Game 6 of the Western Conference Final against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Now they are the hunters instead of the hunted, which hasn't been super successful territory this spring for a Kings team that seems to be fine with three-game losing streaks in a best-of-seven series.
They'd certainly prefer to end this now and enjoy the rest of their spring and summer as champs. Defenseman Drew Doughty told ESPN's Pierre LeBrun on Tuesday that the Kings know from personal experience they need to close it out.
Whoever steps up in the last game or two could walk away with the extra hardware. Good luck trying to decide on this one, voters.
Through the first three rounds, goaltender Jonathan Quick's numbers looked anything but great. He let in 59 goals and had a save percentage of .906-well below his .923 career playoff average.
In the Stanley Cup Final, however, he's boasting championship-type numbers with a 1.68 goals-against average and .938 save percentage. In a series that was supposed to feature a battle between two wildly different but elite netminders, Quick is running away with the contest.
The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist has given up 11 goals for a 3.14 GAA and has a miserable .892 save percentage.
The game is live streaming online atwww.vipboxus.co/sports/ice-hockey.html and on the NBC television network.
