Tonight on NBCSN, it’s the New York Rangers hosting the Los Angeles Kings at 8 p.m. ET in the fourth game of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. Following are some game notes, as compiled by the NHL on NBC research team:
• Tonight marks the 92nd game of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs, tied for the most in NHL history in one playoff year (1991). With a win, the Kings would tie the record for most games needed to capture the Cup (25, held by the 2006 Hurricanes and 2011 Bruins). The Rangers will set a new franchise record by playing their 24th game of the postseason. (They played 23 games during their Cup-winning playoff run in 1994.)
• Since the Stanley Cup Final went to seven games in 1939, the team that took a 3-0 series lead won 25 of 26 series (96%). Twenty of those 26 series (77%) ended in sweeps (mostly recently in 1998, Detroit vs. Washington), three ended in five games, one in six games (2012, Los Angeles vs. New Jersey) and two in seven games. The only team to rebound from an 0-3 series deficit in a Cup Final was the 1942 Maple Leafs, who outscored Detroit 19-7 in Games 4-7 to win the Cup.
• The Kings are up 3-0 in a best-of-seven playoff series for the fifth time in franchise history. During their run to the Stanley Cup in 2012, they won the first three games in all four series. However, they won Game 4 only once, in the second round vs. St. Louis. The Rangers are down 3-0 for the 12th time all-time, and first time in the Stanley Cup Final. They are 5-6 in subsequent Game 4s (all at home) when trailing 3-0 in a playoff series. Only once, in the 1939 NHL Semifinals vs. Boston (which they lost in seven games), were they able to extend one of those series beyond five games.
• In Game 3, Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick made 32 saves in his first-career NHL start at Madison Square Garden and became only the second goalie ever to shut out the Rangers at MSG in a Stanley Cup Final game (Gerry Cheevers, BOS, 1972, Game 6 – 33 saves). Quick carries a 115:36 shutout streak into Game 4, the third-longest of his postseason career. Elias Sports Bureau
Jonathan Quick’s longest shutout streaks, postseason career
138:39 – 2012 Stanley Cup Final, Game 2-4 vs. New Jersey (June 2-6)
125:08 – 2013 1st round, Game 6 vs. St. Louis … 2nd round, Game 1-2 vs. San Jose (May 10-16)
115:36 – 2014 Stanley Cup Final, Game 2-3 vs. N.Y. Rangers (June 7-present)
• After going 0/6 on the power play in Game 3, the Rangers have failed on 36 straight power-play chances at Madison Square Garden since Martin St. Louis scored a PPG in Game 2 of the first-round series vs. Philadelphia. The Rangers’ nine-game home PPG drought is a Stanley Cup playoff record for any team at home in a single postseason. The previous NHL high was seven games by the 1939 Bruins. Elias Sports Bureau
• In Game 3, the Kings scored three or more goals for the ninth consecutive game, and 19th time in 24 games this postseason. That is tied with four Stanley Cup champions (1989 Flames, 1990 Oilers, 1991 Penguins, 1996 Avalanche) for the most games with 3+ goals in a playoff year. (With three or more goals in Game 4, L.A. will set a new NHL record.) They have 84 goals this postseason (3.50 goals/game). The last Stanley Cup champion to score that many goals in a playoff year was the 1991 Penguins (95 goals). To compare, the Kings scored 198 goals (2.42 goals/game) in the regular season, the 26th most in the NHL.
• The NHL’s leading scorers this postseason, Kings forwards Anze Kopitar (5-21—26), Jeff Carter (10-14—24) and Justin Williams (8-16—24) are among a group of nine players who have suited up in all 62 of the Kings’ games in the last three postseasons (2012-2014), with tonight marking game 63, tying an NHL record for most playoff games over a three-year span. (The others are Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, Dwight King, Trevor Lewis, Quick and Slava Voynov.) Only two teams in NHL history have played 63 playoff games in a three-year span: Dallas (1998-2000 – four players played in all 63 games) and Detroit (2007-09 – four players played in all). Elias Sports Bureau