EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Their longest-suffering fans have been waiting 45 years. All but three or four players have been waiting their entire lives.
That's why it was both thrilling and exasperating for everybody around the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday to realize their chance to raise the Stanley Cup is maybe just 60 minutes away.
The Kings are dominating the NHL playoffs with an ease that's stranger than ice in sunny Southern California, taking a 3-0 lead in the finals into Game 4 on Wednesday against New Jersey.
A franchise that hasn't done much of anything is one win away from claiming its first championship in almost impossibly stylish fashion. The Kings' 15-2 postseason run has only one equal in NHL history, and the Devils appear to be stumped for solutions.
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