Kings vs Rangers

LOS ANGELES -- For the victors in the Stanley Cup Final, that first moment when they receive the big silver trophy and thrust it as high into the air as they can, is pure, unfiltered bliss.

What follows is only slightly more organized than chaos. Family, friends and media turn the playing surface into a crowded bus station, if that floor was covered by ice.

Everyone is searching for someone or something, trying to get to a place in the opposite direction of the person coming toward them. The people with media credentials are following the Los Angeles Kings, waiting for them to exhale and try to formulate coherent thoughts when delirium and exhaustion are in play.

The players are congratulated by people they love and people they don't know, and eventually their focus zeroes in on that big silver thing again.

Every player gets a chance in the aftermath of the original celebration to spend a couple more minutes with the Cup on the ice, and this is the chance for photos with family and particular sets of teammates.

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings are Stanley Cup champions for the second time in three seasons for a variety of reasons that became evident throughout their epic 26-game march to the 2014 title.

The Kings needed every advantage and edge they could muster to pass through the Western Conference and advance to the Stanley Cup Final. They had to win three Game 7s, all on the road, including one against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. The Kings also had to navigate their way back from a 3-0 series deficit against the San Jose Sharks in the first round.

Somehow, Los Angeles found a way each time it needed to. The result was a Stanley Cup Final matchup against the New York Rangers.

It again proved to be about finding a way in the final round. The Kings rallied to win three of the five games played in the Final, taking the crown with an Alec Martinez goal in double overtime of Game 5 at Staples Center.

Here are the five main reasons the Kings will be celebrating a second championship in three years with a parade in downtown Los Angeles on Monday afternoon:

LOS ANGELES -- Drew Doughty still doesn't have an individual NHL-awarded trophy, but his place among the elite players in the sport is secure.

And he's filling his resume with team-based achievements quite nicely.

Doughty capped an incredible 2013-14 season Friday by playing more than 41 minutes in the Los Angeles Kings' 3-2, double-overtime, Game 5, Stanley Cup-clinching victory against the New York Rangers at Staples Center.

He led playoff defensemen with 18 points, and led the Kings in average ice time at 28:45 per game. Doughty often was the best player on the ice for Los Angeles, which faced a gauntlet just to reach to the Final then win a second championship in three seasons.

A huge part of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final was the battle between 2012 Cup winner Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings and Vezina Trophy winner Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. The elite goalies went a long way in determining the way the series played out, with the Kings winning the Stanley Cup in five games.

Who had the upper hand? NHL.com scouted the goalies before the series and tracked their performance during each game, identifying trends affecting each. NHL.com correspondent Kevin Woodley, managing editor of InGoal Magazine, used the 360 Save Review System software from Double Blue Sports Analytics to chart the goals and shots against each goalie in each game of the Stanley Cup Final. Here are his findings from Game 5, a 3-2 double-overtime victory by the Kings which gave them the Stanley Cup for the second time in three seasons.

LOS ANGELES -- The way Jarret Stoll tells it, Marian Gaborik was either going to fit in with the Los Angeles Kings or he was going to be an outcast who risked bringing down a championship team.

Gaborik's new teammates were going to help him along, push and prod him in the right direction when and if they had to. But listening to Stoll, it was quite clear that the Slovakian star was the one who had to make it work, who had to determine how he wanted this to go after arriving in L.A. via a trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 5.

"We've got good guys in the room, good people, guys that want to play the right way," Stoll said. "There's not one selfish guy in that room. We understand if there is a selfish guy in that room, we'll either kick him out or he won't play. That's honestly the way it will work."

A New York Rangers team that captured the Big Apple's imagination lost the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 5 on Friday. Alec Martinez's goal in double overtime gave the win to the Kings, who relied on strong two-way play and a wealth of playoff experience to hoist the Cup for the second time in three seasons.

On paper, the 4-1 series loss was humbling for the Rangers, who were able to compete at opportune times and probably deserved a better fate than to go out in five games. Here are five reasons the Rangers were unable to bring the Stanley Cup back to New York for the first time in 20 years:

LOS ANGELES -- Justin Williams might never be called a legend like some of his favorite players were when he was growing up, but what the Los Angeles Kings forward has accomplished in his hockey career is nothing short of legendary.

Williams is a three-time Stanley Cup champion and a Conn Smythe Trophy winner.

"There is no one that is better than him," Kings president Luc Robitaille said.

LOS ANGELES -- Two years ago, when Dustin Brown became the first member of the Los Angeles Kings to lift the Stanley Cup, it capped one of the most improbable championship marches in NHL history.

There were questions in the aftermath, like, "How did they do this?" and, "Where did this come from?" The Kings, the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, rampaged to the Cup, winning the first three games of every series and losing four times in 20 games.

When Brown lifted the Cup above his head Friday at Staples Center for the second time in three seasons, it was the punctuation of an even more remarkable postseason journey.

LOS ANGELES -- Robyn Regehr had an inkling he would be in line for the magical moment. The Los Angeles Kings defenseman heard some chatter beforehand, but when it actually happened, it was beyond what he envisioned.

After captain Dustin Brown took the traditional first lap with the Stanley Cup following a 3-2, championship-clinching, Game 5 win against the New York Rangers in double overtime Friday at Staples Center, he handed it to Regehr, a 15-year NHL veteran who recovered from a knee injury and sat out the last three rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

LOS ANGELES -- The coping started with heartbreak and blank stares.

Dan Girardi and Carl Hagelin, still wearing their white New York Rangers jerseys and all of their pads, sat in front of their dressing room stalls staring ahead, looking blankly across the room. Derek Stepan sat alone in the corner, his arms crossed, head down. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist, his jersey off but pads on, buried his head in his sweaty palms. Ryan McDonagh was shaking as he answered questions.

Literally shaking.

The scene looked like something out of a nightmare for the Rangers. It felt like one too, one caused when Alec Martinez and the Los Angeles Kings cut their dream short with a 3-2 double-overtime, Stanley Cup-clinching victory in Game 5 of Final on Friday at Staples Center.