LOS ANGELES — The emotion was almost overwhelming afterward, pouring from the Rangers like an open faucet. There was a lot to be proud about in this moment, but that was still far off in the wake of a game that was one for the ages, and one that ended their season.
What transpired on Friday night at Staples Center will be remembered for a long time, a double-overtime thriller that ended when Kings defenseman Alec Martinez knocked in a rebound for a 3-2 win in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, the end of the road for the Rangers.
The goal ended two frantic extra periods, with posts being hit repeatedly, huge saves being made on both sides, and eventually the Kings lifting the most prized trophy in the sport for the second time in the past three seasons.
“I knew going into this series it was going to end in tears — tears of joy or tears of heartbreak,” Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said. “Right now, it’s extremely tough.”
Lundqvist was spectacular in this one, as he was for most of this postseason, making 48 saves in total and keeping his team afloat. Yet after Martinez converted on the leftover of a low, hard shot from Tyler Toffoli, the Los Angeles gloves and helmets and sticks went flying in the air, and Lundqvist lay face down on the ice. When he sat up, teammates came over for consolation, and he brushed them off.
“When you play a game like this,” he said through his red eyes, “you’re waiting for some guy to score a big goal for us and take it back to New York.”
The chances to be that guy were aplenty, as the first overtime had Ryan McDonagh ring one off the post and Chris Kreider get denied by Jonathan Quick on a breakaway. The second overtime had a Dan Girardi shot get redirected by Mats Zuccarello, only to find another pipe.
“You just think it’s the next one that’s going to count, it’s the next when that’s going to make it,” McDonagh said. “We kept trying to put it on the net, and it didn’t find the net.”
When McDonagh was asked if there was any way to put into words how he felt, he quickly looked away and quietly said, “No.”
The Rangers were in no place yet to look back on the series and try to figure things out, but what is clear is it was a lot closer than five games might indicate. All three games played in Los Angeles went to overtime, two of them to double overtime. There were small bounces that turned into losses on both coasts, and with them came an indeterminable amount of sadness.
“It’s crazy,” said Brad Richards, who likely played his final game as a Ranger, a prime candidate to be the team’s final amnesty buyout. “That’s our sport. We battled tremendously hard and stayed professional down 3-0. We lost three games in overtime in their building. It’s hard to explain, but they won.”
This game was a back-and-forth affair, with the Kings taking a 1-0 lead on a goal from Justin Williams, his ninth of the playoffs en route to winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as postseason MVP. Yet the Rangers came back in the second period, getting a power-play goal from Kreider and a gem of a shorthanded tally from Brian Boyle for a 2-1 lead.
But with 7:56 gone by in the third, it was Marian Gaborik — of course it was the former Ranger — who tied it, 2-2, and sent the game into the frantic overtimes, and into the annals of history.
“You go into this hoping that you don’t regret anything,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “We put it out there. We gave our best shot, best effort. Three games here all went to OT. What can I say?”