By Stephen London

The Los Angeles Kings beat the New Jersey Devils, 6-1, June 11 to win the Stanley Cup finals during Game 6, which started out with a bit of controversy.

Steve Bernier of the Devils rode Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi face-first into the boards, cutting Scuderi's face in multiple places. Bernier received a game misconduct penalty for the check from behind and was ejected, giving the Kings a five-minute power play.

During the five minutes -- for game misconduct, the power play does not get washed out after a goal -- the Kings scored three goals. Kings captain Dustin Brown got things going with a tip-in power-play goal. Less than two minutes later, Jeff Carter got on the scorecard with another tip-in goal. At the end of the five-minute power play, Dwight King made a move around a defenseman, which Trevor Lewis finished off for the Kings' third goal.

After the game, when asked about Bernier's penalty, Devils head coach Peter Deboer said: "Tonight's about [the Kings] and letting them celebrate. ... If you want to ask me about [Bernier] in about a week, I'll give you my honest opinion on it."

Within the first two minutes of the second period, Carter scored his second goal of the game. Later during the period, Devils rookie Adam Henrique sent a wrist shot past Los Angeles goaltender Jon Quick for the Devils' lone goal during Game 6.

The Devils outshot the Kings, 8-4, during the final frame. But, down three goals during an elimination game, the Devils pulled their goaltender with less than four minutes left. Lewis capitalized on the opportunity, putting the puck in the empty net for his second score.
 
After Lewis' empty-net goal, Kings defenseman Matt Greene put in a wrist shot for the sixth goal for the Kings. During the first two periods, Los Angeles outshot New Jersey, 21-10. The Kings had nine total power-play opportunities, but got just those three first-period goals.

Los Angeles won the first Stanley Cup in its 45-year franchise history, during its second appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. Quick, who went 16-4 with three shutouts during the postseason, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP.

Brown became just the second American-born captain to win the Stanley Cup. Kings head coach Darryl Sutter became the fifth midseason-replacement coach to ever win the Stanley Cup. Anze Kopitar as well as Brown had the most points during the postseason, with 20 apiece, an average of one point per game.

Posted June 12, 2012