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 Right winger Dustin Brown deflected a shot by defenseman Willie
Mitchell at 10:26 in double overtime, rallying the Kings to a 5-4
victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday night in Game 2 of the
Stanley Cup Final before a crowd of 18,532 at Staples Center.
"How we turn the tide of a game over the course of a game, we're not
worried about scoring the game-winning goal," said Brown, who scored
his fifth goal of the playoffs. "We're worried about playing our
game and grinding away. Whether we're down two (or) up two, the
situation doesn't change for us. Where we've faltered is at the
start of games. The mentality of our team is very black and white.
Our mentality allows us to stay in games and come back."
The win gave the Kings a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game
3 is Monday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The Rangers blew a two-goal lead and fell in overtime for the second
straight time.
"We have a lead and lose it, but we still have a chance in overtime
and we had a lot of looks," said Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh,
who had a goal and an assist. "But it didn't matter."
 Kings goalie Jonathan Quick stopped 34 shots and Rangers netminder
Henrik Lundqvist had 39 saves.
Kings right winger Marian Gaborik delivered the tying goal, grabbing
a loose puck and slipping it past Lundqvist to even the score at 4
at 7:36 of the third period. It stayed that way until Brown's
winner.
"We all know what type of player he is," Kings center Jarret Stoll
said of Brown. "It's pretty black and white. Hard, physical, leads
by his play. He's a huge part of our team. There's a reason he's got
a 'C' on his jersey. Big goals, big play, big games. He does it
all."
Kings left winger Dwight King, who had a goal and an assist,
deflected a shot by defenseman Matt Greene to cut the Rangers' lead
to 4-3 at 1:56 into the third period before Gaborik forced overtime.
Some of the Rangers believed King interfered with Lundqvist.
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault wouldn't touch it when asked about it
after the game.
"You'd have to ask the NHL," Vigneault said.
Regardless, New York must find a way to dig itself out of a 0-2 hole
despite playing well in both contests in L.A. or watch the Kings
capture their second Cup in three years.
"It was just a good hockey game both ways," New York center Brad
Richards said. "It is tough to give up two-goal leads."
McDonagh ripped a wrist shot from the point that found its way
through traffic and into the net for a 1-0 New York lead at 10:48 of
the first period. It was McDonagh's fourth goal of the playoffs and
extended his points streak to five games and seven of the last
eight.
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The Rangers increased the lead to 2-0 when center Mats Zuccarello
cashed in on a miss by McDonagh with 1:14 remaining in the first
period.
Stoll put the Kings on the board at 1:46 of the second period,
fielding a backhanded pass from right winger Justin Williams and
dribbling the puck past Lundqvist to cut the deficit to 2-1.
After the Kings were penalized for too many men on the ice, center
Derek Stepan found right winger Martin St. Louis, who converted a
power-play goal from the right circle for a 3-1 Rangers advantage at
11:24 of the second period.
Los Angeles closed to 3-2 when Mitchell fired a rocket from the blue
line for a power-play goal with 5:21 left in the second. However,
center Derick Brassard answered just 11 seconds later with a goal to
give the Rangers a 4-2 cushion.
But that would be it for the Rangers, as the Kings rallied for the
game's final three goals.
"I think we'd rather be up 2-0 for sure, but honestly I don't know
what it is," Los Angeles center Anze Kopitar said regarding how the
team finds a way to rally. "We put ourselves in a hole again, and
then we came back. They scored a quick one after we scored the
second one to make it 4-2, so I think that just shows the character
again of this team and resiliency. We never quit and (we) get it
done eventually."
NOTES: Rangers D John Moore returned to the lineup after serving a
two-game suspension for a hit to the head of Montreal's Dale Weise
in the Eastern Conference Finals. ... Speculation that Los Angeles D
Robyn Regehr would return for Game 2 turned out to be just
speculation. Regehr, who hasn't played since May 3 after suffering a
knee injury, was scratched again. ... Seventeen players on the
Kings' current roster were members of the 2012 Stanley Cup
champions. ... New York has outscored its opponents 25-11 in the
first period of the postseason.
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