CHICAGO -- The 2014 Western Conference Final between the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings was everything it was hyped to be. The much-anticipated matchup between the two most recent Stanley Cup winners saw one team take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series and the other come back to force Game 7, which went to overtime.
"I think the interesting thing about that time, that] era, was we played a certain way and won, and they played a very different way and won too," Kings forward Dustin Brown said of
[his team's 5-4 victory, the NHL will be announcing its best plays, moments, events, coaches and team of the 2010s. One selection, chosen by NHL.com and NHL.com International staff members, will be unveiled each day in the runup to the release of the all-decade teams. Today is Playoff Series of the Decade, the 2014 Western Conference Final between the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks. In the runup to the unveiling of the NHL First and Second All-Decade Teams on Jan. 24 (6:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN), the NHL will be announcing its best plays, moments, events, coaches and team of the 2010s. One selection, chosen by NHL.com and NHL.com International staff members, will be unveiled each day in the runup to the release of the all-decade teams. Today is Playoff Series of the Decade, the 2014 Western Conference Final between the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks.)
on June 1, 2014. "Everyone's trying to go with trends and speed or skill or big, heavy teams, and they were more of a hybrid, and we were a big, heavy team and played really good defense]. They were probably more similar to how the teams are playing nowadays, but both teams found a way to win five championships in a matter of six years. And then you get those teams clashing. It was a pretty memorable series start to finish."
The Blackhawks
[won 3-1 in Game 1
at United Center, then took a 2-0 lead in Game 2 before the Kings scored six unanswered goals, three by forward Jeff Carter, to
win 6-2
. The Kings went home to Staples Center and defeated the Blackhawks
4-3 in Game 3
and
5-2 in Game 4
to take a 3-1 series lead. But back at United Center, forward
Michal Handzus
scored 2:04 into the second overtime to give the Blackhawks a
5-4 win in Game 5
, and forward Patrick Kane scored at 16:15 of the third period to give the Blackhawks a
4-3 victory in Game 6
at Staples Center, sending the series back to Chicago.
"Now you've got Game 7, overtime, to go to the Cup Final," then-Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "It was one of those games where it could've gone either way. We had our moments, they had their moments."
Chicago led 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3, but Kings defenseman Alec Martinez wound up with the biggest moment when his wrist shot from the left point line deflected off Blackhawks defenseman Nick Leddy and went over goalie Corey Crawford's shoulder for a 5-4 victory that sent the Kings to the 2014 Cup Final.
"Just the way the game was back and forth, and overtime, coming back from leads. It was a fun game to play in," said Brown, whose team went on to win its second championship in three seasons by defeating the New York Rangers in the Cup Final. "Game 7 was probably one of the more memorable games; it's definitely the most memorable game I've been a part of and probably one of the more memorable games of the decade."
