Western Conference Final – Chicago Blackhawks vs. Los Angeles Kings
Chicago had a good start to Game 7 with two early goals by Saad and Toews. The Kings responded late in the first with two goals within 51 seconds, when Carter batted in a high rebound and Williams tied the league record with his already seventh goal in Game 7 of a playoff series. The Hawks came right back, when Sharp’s seemingly harmless shot bounced over Quick’s right pad, only twelve seconds after Williams’ goal. After Toffoli’s equalizer, it was Sharp again, who managed to give his team another lead when he scored with a shot from the right circle on the power play. The leagues’s leading playoff goal scorer, Marian Gaborik, tied the game for the third time with 7:17 to play to force this game into overtime, where Kings defenseman Alec Martinez ended the Blackhawks’ hopes of repeating the cup win. His shot knuckled over Crawford’s head after hitting Hawks defender Nick Leddy and helped his team clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Stanley Cup Final – Los Angeles Kings vs. New York Rangers
At Staples Center in Los Angeles, Raphael Diaz became the first Swiss hockey player to actively play in a Stanley Cup Final (after Aebischer and Gerber lifting the Cup as back-up goalies for their respective clubs). The Rangers got off to a good start and took an early lead, when Pouliot picked the puck off Doughty’s stick and converted on the following breakaway chance. Less than two minutes later, the Rangers increased their lead on a goal by Carl Hagelin, when the rebound of his shot was deflected into the Kings’ net off Voynov’s skate. The Kings got back into the game shortly after that on Clifford’s first of the postseason and managed to tie the game 6:36 into the second period on a goal coming after a fantastic individual effort by Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. He slid the puck trough his legs, carried it to the left circle and found a hole between Lundqvist’s body and right arm to top off his solo. Los Angeles had the momentum and outshot New York 20-3 in the third period, but didn’t get another goal in regulation. The overtime only lasted for 276 seconds before Justin Williams wristed the puck past Lundqvist, after Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi slipped and turned over the puck with his team already moving out of their own end. Raphael Diaz didn’t have any remarkable shifts in his 10:15 TOI and finished the game with an even rating.
Diaz was scratched for Game 2, following the return of John Moore to the Rangers defense after his two-game ban. Both teams had good chances early on, but the Rangers again took a 2-0 lead (McDonagh, Zuccarello). Only 1:46 into the second, LA got their first after a bad NY turnover and the following chaos in the Rangers’ end. Veteran Martin St. Louis finished off a nice play on the power play with a nice shot, regaining the two-goal lead for his team. Willie Mitchell’s power play goal three minutes later was quickly answered by Brassard’s 4-2, when he profited from a mess-up by goaltender Quick and Mitchell. Once again, the Kings answered and equalized after being down by two. King’s disputed tip-in from right outside the crease after 41:58 and Gaborik’s wrister from the slot after 48 minutes tied the game at four. With chances on both side in the first overtime period, the game went into another 20 minutes of extra time, where former ZSC Lions lock-out player Dustin Brown deflected the puck past Henrik Lundqvist to give his team a 2-0 series lead.
