NY Rangers vs. LA Kings Live Stream: Watch Online Streaming Overtime NHL Stanley Cup Finals Game

The NY Rangers and LA Kings are playing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals on Wednesday night and the matchup from the Staples Center at 8 pm ET from NBC and the live stream from the NBC Sports Network Live Extra is streaming online and has New York and Los Angeles looking to go up 1-0 in the series for the championship and both teams come in trying to get the advantage after hard fought conference finals.

The Rangers come into the series after winning over the Montreal Canadiens in the eastern conference finals and that was a tough six game series that saw the Rangers jump to a 3-1 lead after winning the first two games and then coming back to win after a terrible Game 5 performance. The Rangers got off to a horrible start in 2013 and many would be surprised looking at the team in October that they made it to the finals, but here they are and now they will face their toughest opponent in the playoffs with the Los Angeles Kings.

The Rangers came back from a 3-1 deficit against the Penguins, but the Kings bounced back from a 3-0 deficit against the Sharks in the first round. The Kings have size over the Rangers, but New York is a much faster team and players like Carl Hagelin, Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan will have to step up against big players like Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar as well as former teammate Marian Gaborik. The series in a way could be decided in Game 1, as ESPN.com writes that the winners of the first matchup win the Cup 77 percent of the time and that means the Rangers have to come out aggressive at the start.

The past eight years only two teams have won the cup while losing Game 1 and the Rangers could use the physical toll LA took in the Chicago series to their advantage and it could be their best chance to steal a game in the series. The tickets for Games 3 and 4 have gotten so expensive at Madison Square Garden that some Rangers fans actually could travel to LA and go see the Kings play at the Staples Center round trip and that would be cheaper. That's what happens when a team plays in MSG and hasn't been to the Cup in two decades and with the memories of 1994 still in the minds of many fans, prices are into the thousands for even the worst seats.

Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault took over for John Tortorella this year and after getting off to a rocky start, the Rangers turned things around during the second half of the season and that led to a matchup with the Flyers in the first round. Vigneault previously was the head coach for the Vancouver Canucks and he has matched up with the Kings numerous times, including in the 2012 playoffs and that was an upset for the Canucks when they were the number one seed and lost in five games.

Check here for the NY Rangers and LA Kings live coverage for the Stanley Cup finals.