The
Rangers were the better statistical team in the regular season, but the
Kings are the Champs, and don’t have injury problems.
Ian Turnbull will not play in game one for
NY.
LA starts this thing off right, getting goals from
Aaron Broten and
Gary Sargent. Guy Lafleur gets a third
LA goal in the 2nd. That’s too much for
NY to overcome. They get a meaningless tally in the third, and fall 3-1.
Guy Lafleur opens the game two scoring, but the
Rangers counter before the end of the first with a goal from
Richie Dunn.
Dunn gets his 2nd of the game, and 90 seconds later,
Guy Lapointe gets a point shot through
Billy Smith.
Denis Potvin would cut the lead to one in the third, but the
Kings can’t tie it. 3-2
Rangers tie the series.
Kings and Rangers battling in game two.
I just noticed that in addition to
Orr and
Turnbull being out,
Terry Ruskowski is also injured for
NY. He had 88 points this season. The
Rangers are really short handed, and that’s how they begin game three.
Pete Mahovlich takes an early hooking penalty, and
Guy Lafleur scores.
Ulf Nilsson follows that goal with another, and its 2-0
Kings after one. After exchanging goals in the 2nd,
Rick Meager scores 40 seconds into the third to make it a 1 goal game. With 3 minutes left,
Guy Lapoint quiets the home crowd with the tying goal, forcing OT. The two teams play for 16 more minutes, before
Ray Neufeld wins it for the
Rangers! 4-3
NY steals game three.
LA ended game four before it even started.
Jack Brownschildle and
Pekka Rautakallio score minutes in, and
Guy Lafleur scores before the period ends.
Butch Goring ends up with 2 assists, and
Billy Smith records the 22 save shutout. 4-0
Kings tie it.
Lafleur has scored in every game so far!
It takes until game 5, but
Rangers leading goal scorer
Terry O’Reilly finally gets one. His goal gives
NY a 2-0, 2nd period lead. The lead doesn’t hold.
Ulf Nilsson and
Guy Lafleur tie it by the end of the period. The third is all
NY though.
Steve Payne, Darryl Sutter and
Mike Zuke score. 3 straight
Rangers goals essentially ends it. 5-2
Rangers win. Game 6 is
LA’s first elimination game in a while. They played like it. Tied at 1,
Mark Pavelich scores short handed to give the Kings a 2-1 lead. Then
Guy Lafleur and the PP went to work. Guy scores twice giving the
Kings a 4-1 lead.
NY fights back in the third.
O’Reilly and
Payne both score late. Momentum clearly shifted to
NY, but they run out of time.
LA wins 4-3 to force a game 7!
In contrast to the Kings leading goal scorer, O'Reilly has just one series goal.
Game 7
Terry Ruskowski is dressed today for the
Rangers. That should give them a bit of a boost. It doesn’t. The
Kings are all over the
Rangers early. The shots are 10-1 when
Guy Lafleur gets his 19th playoff goal to open the scoring. The first period ends 1-0
Kings.
Lafleur has now scored in every finals game.
Despite the
Kings dominance,
Blair Chapman ties it 18 seconds into the 2nd period. The rest of the period is a better showing for the
Rangers, but they are still outplayed. Despite that, we are tied at one heading into the third…
Chapman tied it early in the 2nd.
5 minutes into the third,
Mike Eaves finds some room behind
Denis Herron, giving the
Kings the lead. The
Rangers start turning it on. They get all kinds of pressure, almost catching the
Kings in shots. Their control pays off, as with just 2 minutes remaining, their season’s leading scorer, who had just a single playoff goal, ties it!
Peter Stastny makes it 2-2 with the biggest goal of his life!
Aaron Broten then takes a penalty, meaning the
Rangers will begin sudden death overtime on the PP!
Statsny is another Rangers who hasn't played well, but scores the tying goal!
Despite a few chances, the
Kings kill off the penalty, but the momentum has clearly shifted.
NY continues to control the play.
Guy Lapointe gets a shot off that is stopped by
Billy Smith, but
Mike Zuke pounces on the rebound, finds the back of the net, and wins the Stanley Cup!!!
Rangers win 3-2!!
(Box score thumbnail)
