Kings blank Rangers, take 3-0 Stanley Cup series lead

1. NEW YORK – As it turns out, the Los Angeles Kings c
an play pretty well with a lead.
After spending the entirety of two games trailing
or tied with the New York Rangers – before winning
a pair of thrillers in overtime – the Kings decid
ed to take the decidedly less dramatic route in Ga
me 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night.
They cruised to a 3-0 win and now sit just one vic
tory away from their second Stanley Cup championsh
ip in three years. They'll go for the sweep on Wed
nesday night.
If they can jump out to an early lead like they di
d Monday, this series could be over quite quickly.
With eight-tenths of a second remaining in the fir
st period, Kings forward Justin Williams found a s
treaking Jeff Carter, who beat Rangers goaltender
Henrik Lundqvist for the goal.
BOX SCORE: Kings 3, Rangers 0
KINGS: Quick comes up big
"It was a big boost," Kings defenseman Drew Dought
y said. "And it was more of a damper on them. They
were about to go into their dressing room thinkin
g it was going to be 0-0; now, the Kings are up 1-
0.
"It gave us a little momentum, and we ran with it t
he rest of the game."
After the buzzer-beater to end the first period, t
he Kings added a Jake Muzzin power-play goal early
in the second.
The Rangers attempted to counter with a flurry of
second-period shots – 17 in that frame alone – but
Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick was simply too go

2. od. Quick tallied 32 saves to secure the shutout.
His performance Monday was a bit of a masterpiece,
complete with highlight reel stick saves. And mor
e important, it was reminiscent of 2012 -- when Qu
ick went 16-4 with three shutouts and a 1.41 goals
-against average en route to winning the Stanley C
up and the Conn Smythe Trophy.
A few early saves "just tells us Quickie's going t
o stop everything back there, so let's get a few g
oals for our team," Doughty said.
And that's what the Kings did.
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They added a third with three minutes left in the
second period, a Mike Richards insurance goal that
provided Quick with an even larger cushion to wor
k with – not that he needed it.
As the Rangers showed Monday, not every team is ca
pable of mounting a comeback quite like the Kings.
"We've had to play from behind so often, and that'
s what everyone is talking about," Kings captain D
ustin Brown said. "But if you look at our record w
ith leads after two (periods), I think we've lost
maybe three or four games in four or five years. W
e're a very good team when we get ahead."
Or, as coach Darryl Sutter, a man of few words, de
scribed the outrageous idea of playing with a lead
: "We're used to it."
Though the Kings have been on both ends of sensati
onal comebacks – they watched a 3-1 series lead ag
ainst the Blackhawks last round evaporate – they'v
e cautioned themselves not to let up. They plan on
doing exactly what's gotten them here as they pre
pare for Wednesday's Game 4, where they'll go for

3. the first sweep in a Stanley Cup Final since 1998.
They'll rely on their unsung hero of a goaltender.
They'll rely on their mental toughness. They'll r
ely on each other, the deep roster full of playmak
ers who have stepped up at critical times this pos
tseason.
"That's how you win championships," Doughty said.
"I know we haven't won it yet, but that's how you
get to the point we're at now."
"We need our whole team."