NY Rangers Radio Stream: Listen Online Streaming Kings Game Stanley Cup ESPN

The New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings are playing in the Stanley Cup finals in the NHL playoffs and the series starts Wednesday with Game 1 at the Staples Center in LA as NY heads out west after advancing against the Canadiens and the matchup is streaming online from ESPN Radio and the ESPN website and the matchup should be a good one for hockey and the league.

The Rangers come into the finals for the first time since 1994 and they are the heavy underdogs against a Los Angeles Kings team that won the Stanley Cup a couple years ago. The Kings won Game 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks and now come into the series after winning three straight Game 7 matchups on the road and that means they will be battle tested, but it also means they will be tired coming into the first matchup.

The goalie matchup is going to be a great one with Henrik Lundqvist and Jonathan Quick going at it in this series and both have won Game 7 matchups during the playoffs already. Quick has the Stanley Cup win already from a couple years ago and Hank will have to play like an MVP for the Rangers to win the series. New York has the chance to surprise the Kings in Game 1 and it would be huge to get a win in that first matchup, as the winning team in the first game wins the series over 70 percent of the time. The Rangers have won Game 1 of every series this postseason and that means they could face a 1-0 deficit for the first time if they lose the matchup.

The Rangers have been underdogs throughout the playoffs and now they need to use that to their advantage, as the Kings are the big favorites and they can surprise people if they win a game in LA. The Rangers and Flyers series was a tossup in the first series and it ended up going seven games, while the team was not given much of a chance to beat the Penguins. Many left the team for dead after the Game 4 loss to go down 3-1 in the series, but the team came back in Game 5 and then won Games 6 and 7 to advance to the east finals when no one thought they would be there.

The Rangers advanced after a 1-0 victory against the Canadiens in Game 6 of the east finals and that came after a goal from Dominic Moore, who signed a one year deal after missing all of last season following the death of his wife. Martin St. Louis was his teammate in Tampa Bay and Moore was originally drafted by the Rangers and now he has become a hero for the team. Moore scored after a beautiful pass from Brian Boyle, who was set up with a great play from Ryan McDonagh in the corner and that was all the Rangers needed to win. Carey Price was knocked out of the series in Game 1 and that was a big turning point for the series even with backup Dustin Tokarski playing very well in his place.

Check here for the Rangers and Kings live coverage for the Stanley Cup playoffs.