Dustin Penner scored 17:42 into overtime and the Los Angeles Kings are headed to the Stanley Cup finals for the second time as a franchise after beating the Phoenix Coyotes 4-3 in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Tuesday night.
The eighth-overall seed, the Kings miracle run went through the top three overall seeds in Vancouver, St. Louis, and Phoenix.
Los Angeles last appeared in the finals in 1993 when they were led by The Great One, Wayne Gretzky.
Ironically, Gretzky is a former coach and part owner of Phoenix.
The 1993 team lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games that year, but the 2012 version looks unstoppable.
Kings are the seventh team to reach the Cup finals in 14 games since the league went to this format in 1987. No one's done it in 12 or 13.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) May 23, 2012
Pancakes for everyone! @DustinPenner25 with the game-winner.
— LA Kings (@LAKings) May 23, 2012
Kings- 1st team under the current playoff format to go undefeated on road en route to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final #elias
— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) May 23, 2012
#Kings reach Stanley Cup final for 1st time since 1993 http://t.co/qi5zqOI7
— HuffPost Sports (@HuffPostSports) May 23, 2012
L.A. Kings going into Stanley Cup Playoffs! GO KINGS! #NHL
— Antoine Becks (@AntoineBecks) May 23, 2012
Bam! #Kings! Advance.
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) May 23, 2012
Anyone else having deja vu that the LA Kings move onto the Stanley Cup Finals after a controversial missed call on Kings? #93Leafs
— Josh Rimer (@JoshRimerPR) May 23, 2012
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