The Stanley Cup Finals 2014 schedule is already set and the series starts on June 4 for Game 1 and the Rangers will visit the Los Angeles Kings or the Chicago Blackhawks before coming to Madison Square Garden for Games 3 and 4 and those come after the first two games on Wednesday and Saturday night next week.
The Rangers are coming into the Stanley Cup finals after winning over the Montreal Canadiens in six game and the team clinched their first championship appearance in 20 years after a 1-0 victory in Game 6. The team looked awful in Game 5 and Henrik Lundqvist was pulled, but the Rangers bounced back and won with a shutout after a goal from Dominic Moore in the latter stages of the second period and that was all Hank needed after being benched in the previous matchup. Moore was assisted by Brian Boyle and Ryan McDonagh on the play and it was made possible by a great pass and some hustling on the boards to keep things alive in the offensive zone.
The Rangers are into the finals for the first time in 1994 and they won the Stanley Cup in dramatic fashion that time with a seven game series against the Vancouver Canucks and now they have the chance to make good on that 20 years later. The Rangers made it to the conference finals in 2012 and lost to the Devils and now they are into the Stanley Cup finals and one of the biggest reasons is the play of Lundqvist, who has long been called one of the best goalies in the NHL. The run has been a surprise for the Rangers, who were just 16-18-2 in the middle of the season and they bounced back after some early slumps from Lundqvist and other players.
The first game of the series is on Wednesday, June 4 and the second game will be on Saturday night before the next matchup in New York for Game 3 on Monday, June 9. The Garden has not hosted a Stanley Cup game since 1994 and the Game 4 matchup will be on Wednesday and then Game 5 will shift back West on Friday, June 13 and then if necessary Game 6 will be at Madison Square Garden before Wednesday's possible finale in Game 7 on June 18.
This year the Rangers were the low man of the NBA playoffs, as they were second in their division with 96 points, while the LA Kings had 100 points on the season and Chicago had 107 points. The NHL playoffs has been a hard fought battle and the Rangers rallied back from a deficit of 3-1 against the Penguins and then won in six games against the Canadiens to advance to the Stanley Cup finals.
Check here for the NHL playoffs schedule for the Stanley Cup.
