Kings To Win Their First Cup? Down 2-0, History Not On Devils Side.

Added by Jackie Daly on June 4, 2012.

The LA Kings have won the first two games in overtime to put the NJ Devils in a hole.

The Los Angeles Kings have been road warriors in this 2012 post season, with a record of 10-0 away from home. They added the last two road wins by winning the first two games of this season’s Stanley Cup Finals against the New Jersey Devils at The Rock in Newark, New Jersey. The Kings have taken a commanding lead in the series, two games to the Devil’s zero.

These first two games have not been a plain everyday stroll in the park for LA. Both games, in front of a sea of red that flooded the Prudential Center, have not been settled in regulation time. With stellar goaltending from LA’s 26 year old Jonathan Quick and NJ’s 40 year old future hall of fame net minder Martin Brodeur, it has been a challenging task to get the puck in the back of the net.

The Kings have come out flying through each opponent this post season, having only lost two games total with a record of 14-2. Their focus and determination had been visible to every fan, analyst, and new hockey follower. Finishing the 2012 regular season as barely the eighth seed, they have gone a long way.

The New Jersey Devils finished in the lower half of the Eastern Conference, being the sixth seed. Now, come June, the Stanley Cup Final is a physical battle of passion and skill, and also the eighth place versus the sixth place, now both in first, competing for the ultimate prize of being the Champions who have possession of the Stanley Cup for an entire year.

The lowest seeded team to win the Cup in the past has been the fifth seed. The winner this season will set a new NHL record for the lowest seeded team to eventually go on to win the Cup..

The team who has won the first game of the final series has gone on to win the Cup 76% of the time. Now, the Kings have won the first two. I would say it looks as though things are shaping up nicely to allow the Kings the claim their first Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history. They appeared in a Finals series back in 1993, losing to the Montreal Canadians in five games.

This series marks the first time that two American born captains have been competing for the Cup. Zach Parise for the Devils from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Dustin Brown for the Kings from Ithaca, New York, go head to head to be the first American to hoist the cup since Derian Hatcher of the Dallas Stars back in 1999. Hatcher, so far in NHL history, has been the ONLY captain with red-white-and blue pride to hold the Cup over his head in celebration. This year, there will be another USA star in 27 year old Parise or 27 year old Brown.

The series heads back to LA for games three and four, taking place at the Staples Center Monday and Wednesday night. If home ice really makes a difference for the Kings, they could claim the title with a sweep of the Devils. I don’t foresee a sweep, but I do believe the Kings got this under their belt in five games, hopefully six so they can be in front of a fired up city of Los Angeles for their first championship.