You know, I still think the goal horn is going off in the Staples Center from that June 13th game.
It didn’t take long after the penalty kill for Justin Williams to shrug his shoulders, climb over the boards, and score the first goal of the game. In a post game interview, someone asked why he didn’t score sooner and he responded that he spent the first two minutes of the game saving a kids from a burning orphanage and then the next 3 minutes raising money for puppy cancer research.
Everyone was excited for game 5. The Laker fans were quickly taking off their Clipper jerseys and taking out their Kings jerseys, untouched since that night in 2012.
Taylor Stevens was going through her closet trying to figure out which tight shirt would make Alain Vigneault’s eyes pop out of his head.
And for every other Kings fan it was business as usual. Sure, the Rangers stole game 4 on home ice. But there was no reason for concern. The Kings were home and there’s no way the hot LA temperatures would allow for a stupid snow bank to save 2 goals for Lundqvist.
But most importantly, everyone was calm because it was a crucial game and Justin Williams was in the lineup.
International recording artist, Pia Toscano, sang the National Anthem, marking the only time that Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t the most attractive being on the ice.
Doc Emrick gave each team’s narrative and Eric Cartman led the “Go Kings Go!” chant with his beautiful vocals. And we were ready to begin.
It took a whole 1:44 into the first period for the Rangers to be called for an offensive zone penalty, perhaps their best start to a game during the postseason. PA Announcer Dave Joseph said that Rick Nash was called for a hook but the referees actually called the New York forward for, as they later explained, “The mother of all hooks.”
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| "Clearly not a hook!" said one Ranger fan and another man who's been blind since birth |
Helluva guy.
Anyway, the goal was scored after Henrik Lundqvist essentially gave the puck to Williams on a silver platter following a netmouth scramble.
We'll skip ahead to the second period where the Ranger's impressively underachieving powerplay finally snapped an 0-13 drought with a Chris Kreider tip in, or what Devil fans would call, something Jonathan Quick probably would have (somehow) stopped in 2012 (I'll never let that go).
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| Seems about right |
The Rangers extended their lead with a timely short handed goal at the end of the second period by that guy in V for Vendetta.
So the Kings won games 1 and 2 in come-from-behind fashion on home ice so we all essentially knew what was to come next.
And sure enough the Kings simply turned it on and outshot the Rangeres 12-3 in the third period, including a powerplay goal by ex-Ranger Marian Gaborik, his league leading 14th goal of the playoffs. The goal was scored with about 12 minutes to go in the period.
The Rangers hadn't registered a shot yet.
And, once again, the goal was a result of a juicy rebound by Henrik Lundqvist.
Served on a silver platter in the crease with Gaborik right in front for the (Kathryn) tap-in.
Lundqvist was tested the rest of the way but neither team could finish in regulation so, once again, the Staples Center crowd was given extra Stanley Cup Final hockey.
Overtime was about as hectic as you can imagine. Chances at both ends. Rapid play. And goal posts. Goal posts everywhere.
The Rangers were awarded a powerplay in the first OT when this happened:
I can't stop looking at this image though. Too pretty.
The chances kept coming but neither team had any answer for the posts or the goaltenders in front of them. It was incredible.
All of this picked up in the second overtime. The Rangers hit the post on yet another powerlay.
And then greatness happened.
Sometimes during a game something happens that is so incredible and wonderful and unexpected that many viewers (myself included) are rendered speechless. A moment where your body freezes, in a stage of uncertainty, whether to jump for joy or simply stay seated. Where you try to explain what just happened yet the only sound that emanates from your mouth is similar to that of a Seal pup.
That moment was Rick Nash shooting at a wide open net.
And missing it.
So the Kings won games 1 and 2 in come-from-behind fashion on home ice so we all essentially knew what was to come next.
And sure enough the Kings simply turned it on and outshot the Rangeres 12-3 in the third period, including a powerplay goal by ex-Ranger Marian Gaborik, his league leading 14th goal of the playoffs. The goal was scored with about 12 minutes to go in the period.
The Rangers hadn't registered a shot yet.
And, once again, the goal was a result of a juicy rebound by Henrik Lundqvist.
Served on a silver platter in the crease with Gaborik right in front for the (Kathryn) tap-in.
Overtime was about as hectic as you can imagine. Chances at both ends. Rapid play. And goal posts. Goal posts everywhere.
The Rangers were awarded a powerplay in the first OT when this happened:
Yep, that's Ryan McDonagh celebrating what he thought was the game winning goal. But really the puck hit the post and play continued.
I guess that's what happens when you suffer from extreme fatigue and major dehydration for playing literally every other shift in the game...
The chances kept coming but neither team had any answer for the posts or the goaltenders in front of them. It was incredible.
All of this picked up in the second overtime. The Rangers hit the post on yet another powerlay.
And then greatness happened.
Sometimes during a game something happens that is so incredible and wonderful and unexpected that many viewers (myself included) are rendered speechless. A moment where your body freezes, in a stage of uncertainty, whether to jump for joy or simply stay seated. Where you try to explain what just happened yet the only sound that emanates from your mouth is similar to that of a Seal pup.
That moment was Rick Nash shooting at a wide open net.
If you slow down the replay, you can see that Slava Voynov may have gotten just enough of the shot to deflect it up and over the net but is it okay if we all pretend he didn't? Can we just all agree that this muffed shot will go down as one of the most unclutch moments in sports history? Because at the time that's exactly what it looked like. The Rangers got the puck to the player they wanted to get the puck to. The all star forward they traded for 2 summers ago for situations just like this.
And he missed.
He failed.
He's the goat.
I'm sorry, Slava Voynov, but this is the narrative I'm going with.
And then 5 minutes later, Henrik Lundvist had one more silver platter to dish out and this time it was Alec Martinez who was the fortunate recipient.
One more angle, please
It's the gift that keeps on giving; Henrik Lundqvist's leg pads.
Beautiful.
Just beautiful.
What happened next was wonderful.
The goal horn rang for 47 seconds. (Seriously. I thought my TV was broken.)
Grown men jumped up and down and cried and hugged one another.
And other grown men looked real sad.
People like finishing these game recaps with pictures of the various King players celebrating on the ice, and as awesome as those are, I'll take a different approach.
What's that? There are other players aside from Hank? My bad...
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| Alright, so they're not ALL grown men |
Perfect.
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