Description
The 2014 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s 2013¨C14 season, and the culmination of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. This was the 121st year of the Stanley Cup's presentation. The league realigned its divisions prior to the season, and changed the structure of the playoffs, but the championship series remained the same. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Kings defeated the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers four games to one to win their second championship in franchise history, marking the first time since 2007 that the championship series was determined in fewer than six games. Their Stanley Cup¨Cwinning run of 26 playoff games was the longest of any Stanley Cup¨Cwinning team in history.[1] Los Angeles had home ice advantage in the series, as the Kings finished with a better regular season record than the Rangers. The series started on June 4, and ended on June 13 with the Kings winning their second Stanley Cup in three seasons. It was the first playoff meeting between teams from New York City and Los Angeles for a major professional sports championship since the Yankees and the Dodgers played in the 1981 World Series. 1981 was also the last time the Rangers and the Kings had met in the postseason, where the Rangers eliminated the Kings during the preliminary round of the playoffs.