New York Rangers vs. Los Angeles Kings takes place tonight in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The game takes place at Madison Square Garden and is scheduled to start at 01:00 BST.
In the UK, the game airs live on Premier Sports, while it is also streaming live online with bet365.
Preview (Kings currently lead the series 2-0): LA’s advantage may be more of a curse than a blessing if this season’s earlier series matches are anything to go by. The Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks all blew 2-0 leads in the Western Conference in the spring with the Sharks even managing to lose after being 3-0 up as they were eliminated by the Kings. Another first-round series lead in the West that went up in smoke was the 2-0 advantage the Anaheim Ducks held over the Dallas Stars although the Ducks did manage to steady the ship and eventually come out on top in that one. In the second round, the Minnesota Wild forced the Chicago Blackhawks into a six-game set after dropping the first two games on the road. Whilst the Kings opened with two straight wins against the Ducks and then lost three in a row before taking Game 7. Dramatic swings in fortunes, then, are not uncommon in the NHL and the Rangers will certainly take heart from that in the lead up to tonight’s Game 3 in the Big Apple. New York will need to show more resolve on the east coast however, after the the disappointment of seeing an early two-goal lead over the Kings disappear in Game 1 before to settling things in overtime, and following that up by blowing another 2-0 advantage and falling to a 5-4 defeat in Game 2. Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist insists New York will be ready this time around though, telling reporters: “Both games we had opportunities. We didn’t get it done. We’re going home in front of our great fans. We’re going to be ready for the next game. “It’s just one bounce here and there and it’s a different score. We came up short in two games. Now we have to go home to New York and turn this around.” Kings centre Anze Kopitar is expecting a Rangers fight back at Madison Square Garden. “We can play better hockey. And we’ve done it before. Everybody knows that we’re going to have to do it at MSG because their building is going to be loud,” he said. “I’m sure they’re going to be very desperate. They’re going to throw everything at us that they’ve got and we’re going to have to match all of the above.”
