Stanley Cup 2014: Kings score on empty net (GIF)
By Josh Hill
Game 2 of the Stanley Cup is upon us and with is has come a flurry of intense moments and jaw dropping hits. It’s been a physical series so far to say the least and that’s only been amped up in the second game as the Kings and Rangers are starting to turn in one of the finer Stanley Cups we’ve seen in a while.
And that’s saying something too, as the last four Stanley Cups have been rather phenomenal to watch with last year’s going down as an instant classic.
Part of what has helped define great Stanley Cups recently has been how well the goaltending has been and this year once again sees a pair of titans going at it in the biggest series of the hockey season. On one end there’s Jonathan Quick, who already has a Stanley Cup thanks to his netminding and is jonesing for another one.
Henrik Lundqvist is a monster in the net though and he’s the best hope the Rangers have of winning the Cup this year. But in order to flash the pad and show off his skills, Lundqvist needs to actually physically be in net — something he wasn’t on the Kings first goal of the night.
It came in the second period and it came when Lundqvist was conveniently not in front of the net.
This is both hilariously awful but truthfully telling. On the one hand, the fact that Lundqvist isn’t in net and is sprawled out beside it is pretty funny to see, especially if you’re a Kings fan. But it also shows us that the only way you can score on Lundqvist when he’s hot is to have him not in the net, which is a bad omen for a Kings team that usually gets hot in the second period but instead got lucky.