If you were sitting in the Staples Center on June 13, 2014, your heart was probably in your throat for about three hours straight. Hockey is a cruel game. It’s fast, it’s loud, and it often rewards the team that simply refuses to go away. That year, the Los Angeles Kings didn't just win the Stanley Cup; they survived a gauntlet that would have broken almost any other roster in NHL history.
They beat the New York Rangers in five games.
On paper, "five games" sounds like a blowout. It wasn't. Three of those games went to overtime, and two of them required double overtime. The Rangers, led by an absolutely heroic Henrik Lundqvist, were right there. They had leads. They had momentum. But the 2014 Kings were basically the "slasher movie villain" of the NHL—you could stab them, burn them, and throw them off a bridge, but they’d just keep walking toward you.
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Why the 2014 Stanley Cup winner was basically a miracle
To understand who won the 2014 Stanley Cup, you have to look at the three rounds that came before the Final. The Kings played 26 out of a possible 28 playoff games. That is an absurd amount of hockey. By the time they reached the Final, they should have been exhausted.
They started the playoffs by falling behind 3-0 to the San Jose Sharks. In hockey, a 3-0 series lead is usually a death sentence. Only a handful of teams have ever come back from that. The Kings did it. Then they went seven games with Anaheim. Then they went seven games with Chicago in what many people consider the "real" Stanley Cup Final because the level of play was so high.
Alec Martinez became a household name because of his "jazz hands" celebration, but the heavy lifting came from guys like Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, who were playing nearly 30 minutes a night.
The Rangers were better than you remember
People focus on the Kings because they held the trophy, but the New York Rangers under Alain Vigneault were a powerhouse of transition speed. Rick Nash, Chris Kreider, and a young Derek Stepan were flying.
Lundqvist was "The King" for a reason. He stopped 48 shots in Game 5. Forty-eight! He was the only reason that game stayed tied as long as it did. The image of him face-down on the ice after the winning goal is one of the most iconic and heartbreaking photos in sports history. He had given everything.
The goal heard 'round Los Angeles
The winning moment happened at 14:43 of the second overtime in Game 5.
It started with a rush. Tyler Toffoli took a shot that hit the pad of Lundqvist. The rebound kicked out to the right circle. Alec Martinez—the same guy who scored the Game 7 winner against Chicago just days earlier—was trailing the play. He didn't overthink it. He just snapped it into the open net.
Staples Center exploded.
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It was the first time since 1970 (Bobby Orr) that a player had scored a Stanley Cup-winning goal in overtime. It secured the Kings' second title in three years, cementing that era of LA hockey as a legitimate dynasty, even if they didn't win three in a row like the old Islanders or Canadiens.
Justin Williams: Mr. Game 7 for a reason
You can’t talk about who won the 2014 Stanley Cup without mentioning the Conn Smythe Trophy winner. Justin Williams wasn't the fastest guy on the ice. He wasn't the strongest. But he had this uncanny, almost supernatural ability to be in the right place when the stakes were highest.
He finished the playoffs with 25 points. More importantly, he scored the opening goal in Game 5. He was the emotional heartbeat of that locker room. When the Kings were down, they looked at Williams. He never blinked.
The tactical shift that won the West
The Kings played a "heavy" game. This was the peak of the Darryl Sutter era. They didn't care about fancy puck possession metrics as much as they cared about "territorial dominance." They would dump the puck in, pin your defensemen against the boards, and grind you down until you made a mistake.
It was exhausting to play against.
The Rangers tried to counter this with speed. They wanted to turn the game into a track meet. For long stretches of the series, it worked. The Rangers held 2-0 leads in both Games 1 and 2. They were winning! But the Kings' system was designed to weather those storms. They knew if they kept the pressure on for 60 (or 80) minutes, the opponent would eventually crack.
Small moments that shifted the series
- Dustin Brown's physicality: The captain didn't put up huge numbers, but he made life miserable for the Rangers' blue line.
- Marian Gaborik's revenge: Gaborik had been traded away by the Rangers earlier in his career. He led the 2014 playoffs in goals with 14. Talk about a "revenge tour."
- Jonathan Quick's flexibility: While he wasn't statistically perfect, Quick made "desperation saves" that defied physics, especially in the closing minutes of Game 5.
What we can learn from the 2014 Kings
Winning at that level isn't just about talent. It’s about "emotional elasticity." The 2014 Kings were never out of a game. They trailed in almost every series. They faced elimination seven different times before they even reached the Final. Seven.
If they had lost just one of those games, we wouldn't be talking about them.
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They proved that playoff hockey is as much a mental marathon as a physical one. They won because they stayed calm when the world was falling apart around them.
Actionable insights for hockey fans and players:
- Study the "Cycle": If you want to see how to control a game, watch old footage of Kopitar and Carter in the corners during the 2014 run. It's a masterclass in using your body to protect the puck.
- Resilience over Momentum: Momentum is a lie. The Kings lost momentum constantly but never lost their structure. Stick to the system even when you're down by two.
- Conditioning is King: The 2014 Kings won because they were still skating at full speed in the 90th minute of a game. Off-season cardio isn't just for show; it's for the second overtime of a Cup clincher.
The 2014 Stanley Cup remains one of the most grueling paths to a championship ever recorded. It wasn't just a win; it was an endurance test that the Los Angeles Kings passed by the narrowest of margins.
Next Steps for Deep Diving:
- Watch the full "Road to the NHL Winter Classic" and playoff documentaries featuring the 2014 Kings to see the behind-the-scenes coaching of Darryl Sutter.
- Analyze the puck-tracking data (available through historical NHL archives) to see how the Kings' "Corsi" ratings revolutionized the way front offices looked at puck possession.
- Compare the 2014 Kings' roster construction to the modern "salary cap era" winners to see how the league has shifted away from "heavy" hockey toward pure skill.