The series is remembered for Kings defenceman Marty McSorley's penalty late in the third period of game two for using an illegal stick, in what proved to be the turning point in the 1993 Cup Finals.
When McSorley entered the penalty box, Los Angeles held a 1–0 series lead, and a 2–1 score in the contest.
This was the first of two consecutive Finals series to have former captains of the Edmonton Oilers' 1980s dynasty attempting to win a Stanley Cup with their new teams; while Wayne Gretzky (who was the Oilers' captain on the first four out of five championship teams) ended up on the losing end of the 1993 series, Mark Messier (the Oilers' captain when they last won the Cup in 1990) got his chance with the New York Rangers in 1994, and that time, he succeeded in helping them end a 54-year championship drought.
Los Angeles had started the season well but faltered from December to February, though they managed to rebound and clinch a playoff spot.
[1] The Canadiens initially lost their first two games against the Nordiques, due in part to a couple of weak goals let in by star Montreal goaltender (and Quebec City native) Patrick Roy.
The Campbell Conference saw the Blackhawks swept in the Norris Division Semifinals by the rival St. Louis Blues.
Montreal's path to their first Cup Finals since 1989 became much easier after the Sabres swept the Canadiens' bitter rivals, the Boston Bruins, in the Adams Division Semifinals and the Islanders eliminated the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions (and the league's top regular-season team), the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the Patrick Division Finals.
In game one at the Montreal Forum, the Kings jumped out to a 1–0 lead on Luc Robitaille's power-play goal at 3:03 of the first period.
The Canadiens tied the game late in the first on Ed Ronan's goal at 18:09 (although it was merely a pass that Gretzky accidentally deflected into his own net).
Jari Kurri added an insurance marker off a Patrice Brisebois turnover at 1:51 of the third, and Gretzky sealed the 4–1 win for the Kings with an empty net goal at 18:02.
But the referee ruled that the puck had been shot by a Kings player into Carbonneau's equipment, and so the period remained scoreless.
Montreal bolted out to an early 2–0 lead, but the Kings fought back in the second period with goals by Mike Donnelly at 6:33 and McSorley on a power play at 19:56.
Once again, it was John LeClair who was the hero for Montreal as he netted the overtime winner 14:37 into the extra period, banking the puck off the leg of sliding Los Angeles defenceman Darryl Sydor.
People poured into the streets of the city and some began to commit acts of vandalism and violence while the Canadiens were celebrating inside the Montreal Forum.
[11] In the epicentre of the riot on Saint Catherine Street, stores were looted and police cruisers were set ablaze.
However, ESPN was blacked out in the Los Angeles market because of Prime Ticket's local rights to the Kings games.