The Kings celebrate Alec Martinez’s game-winner as Henrik Lundqvist sits frozen in net.
Credit: Getty Images
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist faced an unrelenting onslaught of shots for the second straight game. But a marathon Game 5 brought the Stanley Cup Final to an end with the Kings celebrating their second title in three years.
Alec Martinez netted a game-winning goal in double overtime off a rebound from a Tyler Toffoli shot with 5:17 remaining. The Kings won the game 3-2 and took the series, 4-1.
Lundqvist made 48 saves in the loss. Kings netminder Jonathan Quick made 28 saves in earning the win.
Justin Williams, who was the leading scorer in the Stanley Cup Final, earned the Conn Smythe trophy as MVP.
Martinez also scored the series-winning goal in overtime of Game 7 during the Western Conference finals against Chicago.
The Kings jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 6:04 mark when Justin Williams banged home a goal off a couple rebounds. It was the ninth goal of the postseason for Williams, who netted the overtime winner in Game 1.
The Rangers evened things up at 15:37 in the second when they finally got off a 1-for-22 streak on the power play with a score by Chris Kreider on a nice feed from Ryan McDonagh.
They took a 2-1 lead less than four minutes later when Brian Boyle made a tremendous individual effort with his team a man down, driving to the net and snapping a shot off past Quick.
The third period followed a similar trajectory as Game 4’s final period. But this time Lundqvist could not hold off every Kings shot. The Rangers were outshot 15-1 in the third on Wednesday, only to be outshot 12-3 in Game 5.
Former Ranger Marian Gaborik finally broke through with the game-tying goal on a questionable power play. Mats Zuccarello appeared to be tripped by Los Angeles defenseman Jake Muzzin, but the penalty was called on Zuccarello. Gaborik managed to poke a rebound under Lundqvist off a Drew Doughty shot to tie it up at 2-2 with 12:04 left in the third period.
It was Gaborik’s 14th goal of the postseason, putting him just one shy of Wayne Gretzky’s franchise record for a single postseason.
McDonagh hit the post on a slapshot with 15:16 remaining in overtime and even jumped up in celebration as the puck appeared to get past Quick. Toffoli bounced one off the right post at 7:15 remaining in OT himself.
The Rangers had a flurry of chances on a power play taken by Kyle Clifford for boarding 5:43 into the second overtime, but couldn’t convert on any of them.
Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports.
