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Get your game notes: Rangers at Kings

Anton Stralman

New York Rangers defenseman Anton Stralman (6) reaches to save the puck from crossing the goal line as Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter (77) tries to score from behind New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30) in the first period during Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final, Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Bruce Bennett, Pool)

AP

Tonight on NBC, it’s the Los Angeles Kings hosting the New York Rangers at 8 p.m. ET in the fifth game of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. Following are some game notes, as compiled by the NHL on NBC research team:

• Tonight marks the 93rd game of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs, the most games in NHL history in one playoff year. The Kings are playing in their 26th game, tying them with the 1987 Flyers and 2004 Flames (led by current L.A. head coach Darryl Sutter) for the most by one team in a playoff year. The Flyers and Flames both lost in Game 7s of the Stanley Cup Final. The most games that a Stanley Cup champion has played is 25, by the 2006 Hurricanes (with current L.A. winger Justin Williams) and 2011 Bruins.

• Earlier this series, the Kings became the 27th team to take a 3-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final since it went to best-of-seven in 1939. By winning Game 4, the Rangers became only the seventh of those 27 teams to avoid a four-game sweep. Tonight, they will try to become the fourth team to extend a series to a Game 6 after falling behind 3-0 (1942 Maple Leafs vs. DET – won in 7; 1945 Red Wings vs. TOR – lost in 7; 2012 Devils vs. LA – lost in 6).

• Kings forwards Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, Dwight King, Anze Kopitar, Trevor Lewis and Justin Williams, defensemen Drew Doughty and Slava Voynov, and goaltender Jonathan Quick are expected to play in their 64th postseason games since the beginning of the 2012 playoffs. If they play, they will all set a new NHL record for the most playoff games played in a three-year span.

• Doughty, who leads the playoffs in total ice time (706:12) and shifts (867) this postseason, has amassed 1,732 minutes, 19 seconds of ice time in the last three postseasons (63 games), the most TOI by any player in a three-year span since it was first tracked by the NHL in the 1998-99 season. Elias Sports Bureau

• Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 40 saves as he and his teammates held the Kings to one goal (Dustin Brown) in Game 4. His 40 saves were the most in a regulation-time, elimination-avoiding victory in a Stanley Cup Final game since the NHL began officially tracking shots in the 1958-59 season. In five games when facing elimination this postseason, Lundqvist is 5-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .971 save%, while the Rangers skaters in front of him have scored a combined 14 goals. Elias Sports Bureau

• The Rangers were out-shot 41-19 in Game 4, including 15-1 in the third period. The -22 shots-on-goal margin was the largest in NHL history by any winning team in a Stanley Cup Final game that did not require overtime. The previous mark was actually set in Game 3 of this series, when the Kings were out-shot 32-15 (-17 margin), but won 3-0.

• In Game 4, the Kings were held below three goals for only the sixth time in 25 games this postseason (and the first time since they scored one goal in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final vs. Chicago). The Kings, who lead the playoffs in goals (85) and goals/game (3.40) and games with 3+ goals (19), could become the first team in NHL history to score 3+ goals in 20 games in one playoff year.

• The Rangers have been outscored 2-0 by the Kings in third periods this series. In the 54 previous Stanley Cup Final series that went five or more games since 1939, only two teams went the entire series without a goal in a certain regulation period: the 1939 Maple Leafs were outscored by a combined 3-0 in second periods of their five-game series loss to Boston, and the 2011 Canucks (coached by current coach Alain Vigneault) were outscored by a combined 10-0 in second periods of their seven-game series loss to Boston. Elias Sports Bureau