The final series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is finally upon us and it features a matchup that is worthy of the greatest trophy in sports: the Stanley Cup.

For the New York Rangers it is a return to the glory days. Exactly twenty years ago Broadway celebrated the end of a 54-year championship drought as Mark Messier, Mike Richter and company brought Lord Stanley back to the Big Apple.

The Los Angeles Kings are looking to mark their place in NHL lore with an opportunity to win their second title in three years. While free agency and general parity have made the concept of a dynasty difficult, Los Angeles can make a valid argument if they can bring hockey’s fabled chalice back to Hollywood.

Game 1 is Wednesday night, so let’s check the tale of the tape to see how the two teams match up.

Offense

The Kings have been uncharacteristically prolific on offense this postseason. Their 2012 championship run was marked by timely scoring with a smothering, shutdown defense. Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik and Justin Williams have led the way, racking up a combined 33 goals and 50 assists. Is there finally chemistry with the team? Have they solved their scoring woes? OR have the Kings been proficient against sub-par goaltending?

Corey Crawford and Jonas Hiller hardly look like a couple of brick walls, and Antti Niemi’s defense crumbled in front of him during the Shark’s historic collapse. The Kings will find a much different defense and goaltender in front of them if they want another spot on the Stanley Cup to scrawl their names.

New York reminds us a lot of the Kings in 2012. With a star-studded lineup that boasts some traditionally potent scorers, the New Yorkers have been perilously inconsistent on offense. Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards and Derek Stepan are the headliners for the Ranger’s scoring brigade but not one of them is in the top 15 for playoff scoring.

The silver lining is that the Rangers have gotten goals from 16 different players. It can be called balanced scoring if you’re a “glass half full” optimist. However, as bad as Jonathan Quick was against Chicago, New York needs their big guns to step up and make a difference. The Kings have proven, clutch scorers that seem to embrace the moment. The Rangers do not. Until we see otherwise the advantage goes to Los Angeles.

Defense

As stout as the Kings’ signature defense was in 2012, they have been sloppy and inconsistent in 2014. Fortunately for Los Angeles the offense has been significantly better. Drew Doughty gets the headlines as the top scoring defenseman, but has had moments where he looked lost in his own end. Slava Voynov, Alec Martinez,  Willie Mitchell and Jake Muzzin have been remarkably average in each series, contributing to their goaltender’s terrible statistics.

While Alain Vigneault will get the credit, John Tortorella deserves a mention for developing a defense that stays responsible. Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi, Marc Staal understand their roles and play them perfectly. The supporting cast of Anton Stralman, Kevin Klein and John Moore is average, but stay at home to a fault to protect their net.

Of the unit, only McDonagh ever seems to jump into a rush, but the rest of the group plays within their limitations, which reduces the number of odd-man chances that the Rangers concede. All that shot blocking that Torts beat into their heads is serving his successor well. Advantage New York.

Goaltending

A year or two ago this would have been all about the marquee goaltending matchup between Henrik Lundqvist and Jonathan Quick. The Kings may have played teams that were statistically better than the Rangers, but let’s be honest here: Quick has been average at best and the possibility of replacing him was very real. The Kings were precariously close to a first round exit, playing four elimination games to advance.

While his proponents might call him clutch, the fact that he was even in those games speaks to the mediocrity that he has displayed throughout the postseason. The Rangers have the ability to make goaltenders look good--See Fleury, Marc-Andre or Mason, Chris or Tokarski, Dustin—but Quick will still need to elevate his game to give Los Angeles a chance.

Lundqvist has been solid throughout the postseason, buckling down even further to help the Rangers past Pittsburgh in the second round. He had a bad game in the Montreal series, but true to form, bounced back for a clutch Game 7 shutout. The Kings bring a confident offense to face the King himself. They haven’t faced a goaltender of his caliber yet in the playoffs and could find some tough sledding when they’re shooting at the Ranger net.

The Little Things

This spot is usually reserved for special teams, but I felt as though there were more variables than just power plays and penalty kills that could make a difference. One of the biggest factors will be faceoff percentage. In a world that is (unfortunately) trending towards advanced statistics, puck possession has been proven to be a key factor in a team’s success. It starts in the faceoff circle where the Kings have controlled 52.9% to New York’s 47.5%.

That’s a pretty considerable gap considering that you can’t score goals without the puck. The Kings have some elite faceoff specialists in Kopitar, Carter, Mike Richards and Jarret Stoll which is critical particularly late in games when there is a scramble to get a tying goal or to protect a lead.

For the record, neither Los Angeles or New York has been setting the world on fire with the man-advantage (L.A.-81.2%, N.Y.-85.9%) but every series poses a separate set of circumstances that can make a difference.

….So How Does it End?

Would anyone be surprised to see this series go seven games? It would be a dream for the NHL and the broadcasting networks to have the two biggest media markets involved in a seven-game Stanley Cup Final. As long as the games are competitive, and there is no reason to believe they won’t be, it will be an amazing series.

The Kings have more firepower on offense, but defense wins championships. The 2012 edition of the Los Angeles Kings know that well. The key matchup is obviously the Los Angeles offense against the New York defense. Lundqvist has shown that he can take over games and can get inside team’s heads.

The wildcard in the Stanley Cup Final will be Quick, the 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy winner. Once a pillar of consistency and excellence, he will be called upon to match Lundqvist save for save. The series will not be the same as the freewheeling high-scoring series Chicago. Expect plenty of one-goal games with five being the benchmark for high scoring. This series is going to New York. I feel like it could be over in six, but what the hell, give the people what they want: Rangers in seven.