2012 Stanley Cup Finals The 2012 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) season , and the culmination of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs . This was the 119th year of the Stanley Cup ' s presentation . The Western Conference playoff champion Los Angeles Kings defeated the Eastern Conference playoff champion New Jersey Devils four games to two , capturing their first Stanley Cup title in team history . Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs . The 2012 Finals ended a long Stanley Cup Finals appearance drought for the Los Angeles Kings , who had appeared in the Finals only once in franchise history , in , when the Wayne Gretzky – led Kings lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games . The New Jersey Devils last appeared in when winning the championship . The Eastern Conference winner had home ice advantage for the first time since , since the Devils had a better regular season record than the Kings . The Devils were the lowest - seeded team to have home - ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals , a record previously held by the Devils when they won the Cup as a fourth seed in . The Kings became the first eight seed to win the Stanley Cup since the conference - based seedings were introduced in 1994 . Road to the Finals . Los Angeles Kings . The Kings started the regular season at 13 – 12 – 4 before firing head coach Terry Murray on December 12 . John Stevens served as interim coach before the team hired Darryl Sutter on December 20 . Under Sutter , the Kings finished the season at 95 points , earning the 8th seed in the Western Conference playoffs . Los Angeles then went on to become the second team to eliminate the 1st , 2nd , and 3rd seeds from the playoffs in the same postseason ( and the first team to do so in that order ) , after the 2003 – 04 Calgary Flames , also coached by Darryl Sutter , eliminating the Vancouver Canucks in five games , the St . Louis Blues in four games , and the Phoenix Coyotes in five games , respectively . In addition , the Kings went a perfect 8 – 0 on the road in these playoff games and the first team to go undefeated while en route to the Finals . The Kings are the second 8th seed to reach the Finals , following the Edmonton Oilers in . ( The Oilers lost out to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games . ) Kings players Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene were part of that Oilers team in 2006 , while teammate Justin Williams played for the Cup - winning Hurricanes . New Jersey Devils . This was the Devils ' first season under head coach Peter DeBoer , who replaced the retiring Jacques Lemaire during the offseason . Under DeBoer , New Jersey finished the regular season with 102 points , but ended up with the # 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs . The Devils eliminated DeBoer ' s former team , the Southeast division - winning Florida Panthers , in seven games , and two of their division rival s , first the fifth - seeded Philadelphia Flyers in five games , and the first - seeded New York Rangers in six games . The series . Game one . Los Angeles scored first on Colin Fraser ' s goal at 09 : 56 of the first period . The Kings then held the Devils without a shot on goal for the first 14 minutes of the second period , but could not increase their lead . The Devils tied the game at 18 : 48 of the second period when Anton Volchenkov ' s shot bounced off of Kings defenseman Slava Voynov and into the Los Angeles net . At 3 : 58 of the third period , a Devils goal was waved off when Zach Parise illegally pushed the puck with his hand over the Kings goal line . Anze Kopitar beat Martin Brodeur on a breakaway goal 8 : 13 into overtime to give the Kings a 2 – 1 win in Game 1 . The Kings ' Jonathan Quick made 17 out of 18 saves , while Brodeur made 23 out of 25 . With the win , the Kings became the first team to win their first nine road games in a single postseason . Game two . The Kings extended their 2012 playoff road winning streak to ten with another 2 – 1 overtime victory . This time , it was Jeff Carter who scored at 13 : 42 of the extra period . After Carter ' s initial shot from the right side was stopped , he then went around the net to grab the puck on the other side and then made a shot through traffic that beat Martin Brodeur . Los Angeles scored first on Drew Doughty ' s unassisted goal at 7 : 49 of the first period . The Devils tied the game at 2 : 59 of the third period when Ryan Carter deflected Marek Zidlicky ' s shot into the Kings ' net . Neither team could take advantage of their power plays , nor on a 4 - on - 4 late in the third period . Both teams had more shots than Game 1 ; Jonathan Quick made 32 out of 33 saves , while Brodeur made 30 out of 32 . Game three . Los Angeles scored four goals , and Jonathan Quick stopped all 22 New Jersey shots , as the Kings defeated the Devils 4 – 0 . The Kings ' first goal at 5 : 14 of the second period was controversial . Dwight King ' s original shot against Martin Brodeur was stopped , but King kept on swiping the puck until Alec Martinez finally pushed it across the goal line . Brodeur argued that he had the puck covered up just before Martinez ' s shot , but the officials did not blow the play dead and the goal stood . The Kings ' scored their second goal at 15 : 07 of the third period when Justin Williams sent a pass near the boards to Dustin Brown , who then passed to Anze Kopitar on the other side , who then lifted the puck over Brodeur . In the third period , two New Jersey penalties led to two Los Angeles power play goals . Meanwhile , New Jersey could not score off of Los Angeles ' five penalties during the game , including Jeff Carter ' s high - sticking double - minor in the first period that led to a Devils 5 on 3 for about a minute . This contest also saw the return of Kings ' left winger Simon Gagne , who had been out of the Los Angeles lineup since December 26 , 2011 , due to a head injury . Gagne , who is playing in the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in three years , took Brad Richardson ' s spot in the lineup . In 2010 , Gagne , along with current Kings teammates Mike Richards and Jeff Carter , were members of the Philadelphia Flyers that lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games . With the win , the Kings became the first team in NHL history to take a 3 – 0 series lead in each of the four rounds of the playoffs . Game four . New Jersey avoided being swept for the first time in team history when Adam Henrique scored at 15 : 29 of the third period to break a 1 – 1 tie , and Ilya Kovalchuk added an empty - netter with 19 . 1 seconds left , defeating the Kings 3 – 1 , and forcing a Game 5 . This marked the third time in this playoffs that the Kings failed to close out a series in Game 4 after winning the first three games . The game remained scoreless until 7 : 56 of the third period when Patrik Elias shot a rebound into the Los Angeles net , giving New Jersey their first lead of the series . This lead was cut short a minute later , as David Clarkson was called for boarding at 8 : 52 , and four seconds later Drew Doughty tied the game with a power play goal for the Kings . With the loss , the Kings failed to match the NHL record set by the Edmonton Oilers in 1988 of a 16 – 2 record , the least number of games played in the current playoff format of four best - of - seven series to win the Stanley Cup . Game five . The Devils gave the Kings their first playoff road loss with a 2 - 1 victory , ending their 10 - game road - winning streak , and became the first club since the Detroit Red Wings in to come back from a 3 - 0 deficit in the Cup Finals to force a Game 6 . New Jersey scored first at 12 : 45 of the first period , their first power play goal of the series , after Jonathan Quick misplayed the puck and Zach Parise found an open net on the other side before the Los Angeles goalie could recover . The Kings tied the game at 3 : 26 of the second when Justin Williams took a pass from Matt Greene , skated into the New Jersey zone and beat Martin Brodeur . But the Devils took the lead for good at 9 : 05 of the second when Bryce Salvador ' s shot defected off of Kings defenseman Slava Voynov into the Los Angeles net . Jarret Stoll ' s goal at 11 : 16 of the second period , which would have tied the game , was waved off because he shot it with a high - stick . The Devils later held on for the final minute of the game on a 4 - on - 4 and the Kings pulling their goalie for the extra attacker on what became essentially a 5 - on - 4 advantage . Game six . The Kings defeated the Devils , 6 – 1 , in Game 6 to capture the series and win their first Stanley Cup in team history . This was the most lopsided Cup - clinching game since , when the Pittsburgh Penguins won Game 6 by beating the Minnesota North Stars 8 – 0 . At 10 : 10 of the first period , New Jersey ' s Steve Bernier was assessed a major boarding penalty and a game misconduct on a hit to Los Angeles ' Rob Scuderi . The Kings then put the game out of reach by scoring three goals on the ensuing five - minute power play ( when a major penalty is assessed , the full five - minute penalty must be served ) - - the first by Dustin Brown , the second by Jeff Carter , and the third by Trevor Lewis . Carter then beat Martin Brodeur to score his second goal of the game at 1 : 50 of the second period after Anton Volchenkov collided with a linesman while trying to defend Brown , who was carrying the puck into the New Jersey Zone . Unimpeded after Volchenkov was screened from the play , Brown easily got the pass off to Carter . Adam Henrique got the Devils ' lone goal at 18 : 45 of the second period after getting the rebound off of a shot by Petr Sykora . Lewis added an empty net goal at 16 : 15 of the third period after Brodeur was pulled for an extra attacker . With Brodeur back in the net , Matt Greene scored the Kings ' sixth goal of the game 15 seconds later . Regarding Bernier ' s game - changing penalty , Rich Chere of " The Star - Ledger " wrote that it was " the most devastating call in the Stanley Cup finals since the illegal curve on Marty McSorley ' s stick in " . Several Devils fans and other observers believed that there was inconsistency with the officials ' calls , and that they missed a couple of calls on the Kings at the time of that hit , such as one Jarret Stoll made on the Devils ' Stephen Gionta . But James Mirtle of " The Globe and Mail " gave credit to the referees for making the hard call , stating that " Scuderi had his back to Bernier much of the play . . . It ' s also the type of play the league showcased at the GM meetings as one where more and more players had been ' letting up ' rather than plowing a vulnerable opponent from behind . The NHL , in other words , wants these hits out of the game . " With the cup win , the Kings are only the second California based NHL team to win the cup following the 2007 Anaheim Ducks and the second to last 1967 expansion team to do so . Notes . The 2012 Stanley Cup Finals marked the first time two American - born captains faced off in the championship series of the NHL as Dustin Brown of Los Angeles battled against Zach Parise of New Jersey . This scenario ensured a second time in league history of an American - born captain leading his team to the Stanley Cup championship . Derian Hatcher of the Dallas Stars was the first American - born captain to do so , leading his team over the Buffalo Sabres in . These finals guaranteed the lowest - seeded Stanley Cup champion in history . New Jersey , as a fifth seed , won the Stanley Cup in . With the Kings ' victory , they became the first team ever to win the Stanley Cup as the eighth seed . They are also the second team to win the Stanley Cup without having home ice advantage in any of the four rounds of the playoffs , also after the Devils in 1995 . For the second consecutive Finals , both participating teams ' arenas ( New Jersey ' s Prudential Center and Los Angeles ' Staples Center ) served as host to their first Stanley Cup Finals . The Prudential Center opened prior to the season , while the Staples Center opened in time for the season . ( In 2011 , the Boston Bruins ' TD Garden and Vancouver Canucks ' Rogers Arena , which both opened within days of one another in September 1995 , were the two venues that had the honors . ) The Kings are the fourth consecutive team to win the Stanley Cup after opening the season in Europe as part of the NHL Premiere Series . Previous NHL Premiere participants ( Pittsburgh — , Chicago — , Boston — ) went on to win the Cup . Jonathan Quick became the third American Conn Smythe Trophy winner , following previous winners Brian Leetch ( ) and Tim Thomas ( 2011 ) . Rosters . Years indicated in boldface under the " Finals appearance " column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year . Officials . The following officials were chosen for the Stanley Cup Finals : Television . In Canada , the series was televised in English on CBC and in French on the cable network RDS . In the United States , NBC broadcast the first two and the final two games , while the NBC Sports Network televised games three and four . Los Angeles Kings - 2012 Stanley Cup champions . The 2012 Stanley Cup was presented to Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman , following the Kings 6 - 1 win over the New Jersey Devils in the sixth game of the finals .