The level of play was close in the first period of Game 2, yet Henrik Lundqvist and Ryan McDonagh ultimately made the biggest difference in giving the New York Rangers a 2-0 lead.
While Lundqvist thwarted the Los Angeles Kings on some big chances (at least when the Kings weren’t missing the net), McDonagh’s been all over the place.
Most noticeably, he gave the Rangers yet another 1-0 lead:
The 24-year-old was pretty nasty at times, leaving Jeff Carter banged up with a clean enough hit but drawing a two-minute minor for retaliating against Dustin Brown:
McDonagh bounced back after that, assisting on Mats Zuccarello’s 2-0 tally (the first goal by a Norwegian-born player in a Stanley Cup Final contest):
This is the 15th time the Rangers have scored first in 22 playoff games. So far they’re 10-4 in those contests. McDonagh played a big role in making that happen.