Martin Brodeur (No.30) of the New Jersey Devils looks on after making a save against the New York Rangers on May 25. Photo: AFP

The Los Angeles Kings will try to take their unlikely National Hockey League (NHL) playoff run all the way to a title as they tackle the equally unexpected New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Finals starting on Wednesday.

After a stuttering regular season saw Los Angeles replace coach Terry Murray with Darryl Sutter in mid-campaign, the eighth-seeded Kings have stormed to the Western Conference crown and into the best-of-seven championship series.

The Kings have needed just 14 playoff games - matching an NHL record - to reach the Finals for the first time since 1993.

Along the way, they have outscored opponents 41-22. They ousted top-seeded Vancouver in five games in the first round, swept St. Louis then eliminated Phoenix in five games.

"Everybody came into the season thinking we could be the good team, the kind we are now," said winger Dustin Penner, whose overtime goal against Phoenix put the Kings in the Cup Finals.

"Especially the older guys thought the pieces to the puzzle were there. We just couldn't find a way to put it together. We knew once we were in that it was anybody's game."

Now the Kings will try to go one better than the Wayne Gretzky-led side that fell to Montreal in the Stanley Cup  Finals in 1993.

New Jersey, seeded sixth in the East, showed their mettle in a playoff run that has included a first-round victory over the Florida Panthers, a second-round triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers and, finally, a six-game triumph over the top-seeded New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Devils had fallen 2-1 down in the series against the Rangers, but won the last three games to reach the championship series for the first time since winning their third title in 2003.

The Devils' victory over the Rangers gives goaltender Martin Brodeur a chance at a fourth Stanley Cup title at the age of 40.

"It's been a lot of fun this season, playing on a really good team, and I'm enjoying this ride," said Brodeur, who could become the ninth player in NHL history and the second goaltender - after Patrick Roy - to win Stanley Cups in three different decades.

AFP - Global Times