How they got here:

After a trade deadline that saw them deal team captain Ryan Callahan to the Tampa Bay Lightning for future hall of famer and Lightning captain Martin St. Louis, the New York Rangers, along with their new star forward, stumbled their way into a second place finish in the Metropolitan division and the fifth seed overall in the Eastern Conference. Then something clicked.

Rangers defenseman Dominic Moore (#28) celebrates after scoring the eventual game-winning goal for the Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals (@theScore/Twitter)

By no means has it been an easy playoff run for the Rangers. The Philadelphia Flyers forced Game 7 in the first round even before they had to mount a comeback from a 3-1 deficit in a second round matchup with Sydney Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins. Though it "only" took six games to finish off an intriguing Eastern Conference Final with the Montreal Canadiens, their road to the Eastern Conference title, both on and off the ice, has had its share of unexpected turns. 

After losing Game 4 against Pittsburgh, leaving them down 3-1 in the series, Martin St. Louis' received news that his mother, France St. Louis, died suddenly that night of a heart attack at 63. 

What happened next--the remarkable display of solidarity that his teammates showed, rallying around St. Louis, validated only a day later by his emphatic, emotional return to the ice--cemented this team with an identity and a bond that carried them to three straight wins to finish off a rousing comeback against the Penguins. 

The entire team took a day off between Games 1 and 2 in Montreal to attend France St. Louis' funeral in Laval, Quebec. But even in the midst of the emotional whirlwind that was engulfing the team throughout this sensitive period, nothing could stop this Rangers squad that had suddenly grown closer to each other than most teams do in a full season. After winning the first two games in Montreal in convincing fashion, the Rangers proceeded to close out the Eastern Conference Title at home in a 1-0 Game 6 victory at Madison Square Garden.

The 2014 Rangers playoff run has been a heartwarming story of a deep, well-coached team rallying around adversity off the ice to will themselves to a seemingly unlikely stretch of victory on the ice. They joined the Kings in becoming the first teams to ever win two road Game 7's en route to the Finals. They have earned a place in the hearts of many around the country, to the point where it is probably safe to give the Rangers the distinction of "the team America is rooting for" in these finals.

Their opponents from the West know a little something themselves about overcoming adversity on the ice.

Forty-two nights ago, the Los Angeles Kings sat in front of their lockers underneath an empty, seemingly deflated Staples Center. Fresh off of dropping their third straight game to open their 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the expectation going into the room was a defeated, distraught and demoralized team that found themselves in an apparently insurmountable hole. But devoid of playoff clichés and feeling sorry for themselves, the team knew its job wasn't over yet, and head coach Darryl Sutter would see to it that every member continued to put forth their full effort every night until they were eliminated. "It's a tough hill and we won't go quietly, that's for sure," muttered Sutter in his postgame interview that night.

Six weeks (and a few close calls) later, they find themselves on the eve of their second appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals in the last three years after making it only once in the franchise's first 44 years of existence.

After their historic comeback from that 3-0 hole against the Sharks, a seven game thriller against the Ducks for, among much else, Southern California bragging rights, and finally a Conference Final that resulted in a gut-wrenching Game 7 overtime against the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks, who one year ago ended the Kings' own title defense, could anyone have scripted a more adverse, more difficult, more dramatic path to the Stanley Cup Final?

The Kings are the first team in NHL history to win three Game 7's on the road to advance to the Finals. Only three days later, it will still be tough for some Kings fans to stop talking about Alec Martinez' overtime winner that sent the Kings to this Final. In the split second it took for the puck to bounce off Blackhawks' defenseman Nick Leddy past Corey Crawford and into the net, screams erupted and near-puke-inducing stress turned into absolute euphoria all over Los Angeles (dwarfing the 3.7 magnitude earthquake that occured in LA during the third period) as the United Center fell as silent as you will ever hear 22,000+ in an NHL arena. Immediately, the "Madhouse on Madison" became something more along the lines of the "Morgue on Madison."

Now, with a monumentally hard-fought win behind them in what may go down as the best playoff series of our generation, the Kings aren't getting caught up in the sentimentality or history of anything they have achieved. When asked if he thought this team was "special," Sutter responded, as only Sutter could, "We beat New York then we'll be something special."

Biggest Factors:

Do the Rangers have a match for Anže Kopitar?

Anže Kopitar of the Kings faces off in the regular season against the Rangers' Brad Richards (@SInow/Twitter)

Despite continuing to be the Kings' best all around player, setting up his linemates for huge goals and continuing a run that has seen him lead the league in playoff scoring since the beginning of the first round, Anže Kopitar was held without a goal in the conference final against Chicago. It doesn't take an NHL Network analyst to figure out what the reason for this was; he goes by Jonathan Toews. No offense to the defensive capability of Derek Stepan or Derick Brassard, but after spending six weeks lining up against the likes of Joe Pavelski, Ryan Getzlaf and Toews, Kopitar could be poised for an outburst of offensive production in this series; the kind that could secure a spot for the Conn Smythe Trophy on the mantle back in Slovenia. And we haven't even talked about his defense...

Will fatigue take its toll on either team?

The Rangers and Kings have played 20 and 21 games, respectively, just to reach this point. Following up an 82-game regular season that also saw many of the best players on both teams travel to Sochi to represent their countries, bodies are more fragile, and many players have already come back from injuries during these playoffs. Of course, ask anyone from either team and you'll get the same general response every time: No way. But the possibility of fatigue catching up with one or both of these teams is very present, especially for the Kings, who have now played into June for three straight years. In fact, more playoff games have been played in Los Angeles over the last three years (27) than in all of Canada (26).

Can Quick be Quick?

For all the (deserved) talk about Henrik Lundqvist's stellar performace for the Rangers this postseason, the thought of Jonathan Quick on top of his game is one that will leave New York's skaters more than uneasy coming into this series. Quick, in the process of winning 12 games to reach the Finals, has been far off the form that won him the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2012 as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs. In fact, he isn't even playing at the level he did a year ago, when he was the biggest reason that an offensively challenged Kings team didn't get swept in the conference finals by the eventual champion Blackhawks. By no means is this to say that he hasn't been making huge saves when it matters most (See: Game 7, Chicago, Andrew Shaw with 5 seconds left in regulation), but if a return to the NHL's biggest stage is what it takes to bring back 60 minutes per game of that Jonathan Quick, with the way the Kings' offense has looked this past month, the Rangers could be looking at a quick exit (no pun intended). 

Kings players celebrate after Alec Martinez' goal beat the Blackhawks in sudden-death overtime in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals (@Indiana_Matt/Twitter)

Players looking for revenge against their old teams:

Marian Gaborik

The Rangers traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets at the 2013 deadline for Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett and John Moore, ending a run in which Gaborik was the most dominant member of a Rangers lineup that was always a threat to come out of the East, but never quite made it. He was a perennial 40-goal scorer in New York, leading some fans to react like this when he was traded. Every time he looks up and sees Rick Nash, his eventual replacement in New York, the "shouldn't have traded me" fire will ignite in his game and we can look for him to continue scoring goals at the torrid pace he has in these playoffs.

Daniel Carcillo

Acquired last offseason by the Kings from the then-champion Blackhawks, Carcillo has an uncanny knack for finding himself on the biggest stage for some of the most successful teams in the NHL. A two-time Stanley Cup champion in Chicago, Carcillo also has a well-earned reputation as a danger to opposing players on the ice. He scored 1 goal and earned 57 penalty minutes for the Kings before being dealt to New York before the deadline this season. Often suspended by the NHL, Carcillo will not be able to play in these finals until Game 4, after having a 10 game suspension for elbowing an official in the previous round dropped to 6 games. Look for him to make a loud impact, both on the game and some Kings' bodies, once he returns. 

Early Conn Smythe Favorites:

If the Rangers win: Henrik Lundqvist.

Without a doubt, the Swedish goaltender is the biggest reason that the Rangers are still playing tonight. While nobody has ever doubted his raw talent or ability to stop pucks, he had yet to lead his team out of the East for a chance to play for the Cup until now. If the Rangers pull off a Finals win over the Los Angeles team that hockey fans everywhere have now witnessed beat the defending champions and the West's No. 1 seed, there is little doubt Lundqvist will be bestowed Conn Smythe honors. 

Rangers' honorable mentions: Defenseman Ryan McDonagh has seen his play elevate to the level of the elite defensemen this postseason, right up there with Drew Doughty and P.K. Subban as the most productive and responsible blue-liners these playoffs. Forward Martin St. Louis has followed his disappointing half-season following the trade deadline with one of the most memorable postseason performaces of recent memory, leading the Rangers in scoring while serving as the emotional backbone for a team that still has not named a captain since trading him for St. Louis at the deadline. 

Rangers' Defenseman Ryan McDonagh (left) and Kings Defenseman Drew Doughty (right) (@FoxSportsWest/Twitter)

If the Kings win: Drew Doughty.

Doughty has been the heart and soul of this Kings team, logging absurd amounts of ice time as his team played some of its best hockey in its biggest, toughest games. Whether he is killing penalties, taking away passing lanes, leveling opposing players or racking up points in the offensive zone, Doughty has found himself in the middle of most of the biggest plays that have led the Kings this far in the postseason.

Kings' honorable mentions: Despite Doughty's unmatched impact that only those who have regularly watched the Kings' run can attest to, there are a multitude of deserving players on the Kings. Jeff Carter has found a home centering rookie wingers Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson, leading that line to staggering offensive numbers while maintaining an excellent defensive presence. Gaborik leads the league with 12 goals in the playoffs. Justin Wiliams, through the three Game 7's, cemented his legacy as the NHL's "Mr. Game 7," culminating with his assist on the Martinez overtime goal in Chicago, which gave him sole possession of the all-time record for Game 7 points with 14 (two better than Gretzky). Williams, never the flashiest or loudest player on the ice, has yet to crumble under even the biggest pressure circumstances in what has become an illustrious playoff career, in and out of Los Angeles. 

Prediction Time:

The Kings' stars are at the peak of their game, and after surviving the West in exhausting fashion, they are primed to sprint the final lap to the finish line. This isn't to take one bit of credit from the Rangers where it is due. They certainly have the mental makeup and the ability to compete with the Kings, but the level of opposition they have faced during their run pales in comparison to what they are about to see in a Los Angeles team that has eliminated three skilled, physical juggernauts on its way here. General Manager Dean Lombardi, along with Darryl Sutter and their respective staffs, have built a winning culture in Los Angeles that players and franchises around professional sports could only envy. Three Game 7's on the road were enough for Los Angeles. They want to reward their fans with a Cup presentation at Staples Center, and they want to spare them the anxiety of another Game 7. It will be a fun series to watch, and both of these teams will be remembered for years to come for two truly awe-inspiring playoff runs. Kings in 5.

For live updates throughout the Stanley Cup Finals, follow Staff Writer Noah Sachartoff on Twitter.