Devils' run ends two wins shy of ultimate prize
LOS ANGELES (AP) Jeff Carter and Trevor Lewis scored two goals apiece, playoff MVP Jonathan Quick made 17 saves in his latest stellar performance, and the Kings beat the New Jersey Devils 6-1 Monday night in Game 6 of the finals, becoming the first eighth-seeded playoff team to win the Stanley Cup.

Captain Dustin Brown had a goal and two assists for Los Angeles. After taking a 3-0 series lead and then losing two potential clinching games last week, the Kings finished ferociously at Staples Center just when the sixth-seeded Devils appeared to have a chance for one of the biggest comebacks in finals history.

One penalty abruptly changed the tone of the series. Brown, Carter and Lewis scored during a five-minute power play in the first period after Steve Bernier was ejected for boarding Rob Scuderi, leaving the veteran defenseman in a pool of blood. Quick took it from there, finishing a star-making two months by allowing just seven goals in six finals games.

''You never know. You get to the dance, you never know what's going to happen,'' Brown said. ''We calmed down after losing two. It was the first time we had done that all playoffs, and we finally got off to a good start.''

Martin Brodeur stopped 19 shots for the Eastern Conference champion Devils, just the third team to force a Game 6 in the finals after falling into an 0-3 hole. Rookie Adam Henrique ended Quick's shutout bid late in the second period after the Kings had built a 4-0 lead, but Lewis and Matt Greene added late goals for the Kings.

The Kings went 16-4 after barely making the playoffs, eliminating the top three seeds in the Western Conference in overwhelming fashion as they matched the second-fastest run to a title in NHL history. Although the Devils gave them a little trouble, the Kings took down every opponent in their path after an inconsistent regular season.

Los Angeles boasted a talented, balanced roster that peaked at the absolute perfect time under midseason coaching hire Darryl Sutter. Brown, just the second American-born captain to raise the Cup, accomplished what even Wayne Gretzky couldn't do in eight years in Los Angeles.

Quick added one more dominant game to his run, while Brown capped his own impressive playoff work by finishing with 20 points, tied for the postseason scoring lead with linemate Anze Kopitar.

Brown accepted the Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and skated straight to center ice with it, triumphantly thrusting it skyward and kissing the silver. Brown handed it off first to Willie Mitchell, the 35-year-old defenseman who had never won the Cup, and he gave it to long-injured and recently returned forward Simon Gagne, who nearly tripped before raising the Cup for the first time.

After a dominant 12-2 tear to the Western Conference title, the Kings won the first two games of the finals in overtime by identical 2-1 scores in New Jersey, leading many to assume another one-sided series victory was upcoming. Los Angeles then flattened the Devils 4-0 in Game 3, but missed its first chance to clinch on home ice when rookie Adam Henrique scored the tiebreaking goal with 4 1/2 minutes left in New Jersey's 3-1 win in Game 4.

The Devils then beat Los Angeles 2-1 in Game 5, earning another cross-country trip after becoming the third team in NHL history and the first since 1945 to win twice after falling behind 0-3 in the finals.

The Kings were the West's bottom seed after failing to clinch a playoff berth until right before their 81st game, but only because they underachieved for much of the season. Their talent finally came together under Sutter, who replaced the fired Terry Murray shortly before Christmas and turned the Kings into a contender by late February.

Five years after the Anaheim Ducks won California's first Stanley Cup, the Golden State's oldest team raised the second. The Kings also are the first team to win the Cup at home since those Ducks, and their fans appreciated the Hollywood touch.

Despite coming off their first back-to-back losses of the playoffs, the Kings started with impressive energy in Game 6, getting most of the good early scoring chances - and then they got the break they needed when Bernier pushed Scuderi headfirst into the boards behind Quick's net. Scuderi stayed motionless for quite a while, eventually heading to the dressing room after leaving plenty of blood from his lacerated nose.

Bernier, a 27-year-old journeyman and depth forward with two goals in 24 playoff games this season, went to the locker room. The Devils complained Jarret Stoll received no penalty for checking Stephen Gionta into the boards between the benches a moment earlier.

The Kings then went to work on a power play that nearly measured up to the Miracle on Manchester - that famed 1982 playoff game in which Los Angeles rallied from a 5-0 deficit in the third period against St. Louis with a dynamic power play.

Brown scored 53 seconds in, slickly redirecting Drew Doughty's low pass in front for his first goal since the Western Conference finals opener. Brown's physical play and goal-scoring in the first-round series against Vancouver set a tone for the entire playoffs, but New Jersey had effectively shut him down until Game 6.

Carter then scored his seventh goal of the postseason after Brown walked the puck out of the corner and fired a shot at Brodeur's glove side while skating away from the net. The midseason acquisition has been a dependable scorer ever since he was reunited with longtime Philadelphia teammate Mike Richards on the Kings' second line.

With the Los Angeles crowd standing and cheering, the Kings added another as rookie Dwight King ferociously drove the net and left a rebound for Lewis, who tucked it home for his first goal in 18 games. Staples Center was deafening for most of the final 5 minutes, and not even Patrick Elias' shot that glanced off Quick's post dampened the joyous mood.

Los Angeles went up 4-0 just 90 seconds into the second period when Brown found Carter unchecked in the slot for a one-timer past Brodeur. The celebration was on, and even a fruitless four-minute power play later in the second didn't matter.

The Devils' frustration boiled over when Ryan Carter took a misconduct penalty for running over Scuderi and Quick, while Clarkson joined him in the dressing room with his own misconduct. New Jersey finally scored late in the period when Henrique converted a rebound, but Lewis and Greene wrapped it up.

NOTES: The Kings are the first team to clinch the Stanley Cup on their home ice since the Anaheim Ducks did it five years ago. They're also just the second No. 8 seed ever to make the finals. Edmonton lost in seven games in 2006. ... Only four Kings had previously won the Stanley Cup - Dustin Penner, Scuderi, Justin Williams and Colin Fraser, who didn't contribute much to Chicago's 2010 run.