There were some highlights in franchise history, such as a dramatic seven-game series loss to the heavily favoured Boston Bruins in 1976, the upset of the top seeded Edmonton Oilers (including the game three Miracle on Manchester) in 1982, a comeback from a 3–1 series deficit to beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Oilers in 1989, and an upset of a second-seeded Detroit Red Wings team in 2001 often referred to as the “Frenzy on Figueroa.”[5] The first time that they advanced to the Western Conference Final was in 1993, where the Kings defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games to reach their first Cup Finals in franchise history, where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games.

From 1994 to 2011 the Kings won just one playoff series in 2001 against the aforementioned Red Wings team and coming back from a 3–1 deficit to push the eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche to seven games.

Kings players Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene were part of that Oilers team in 2006, while teammate Justin Williams played for the Cup-winning Hurricanes.

[8] The Devils tied the game at 18:48 of the second period when Anton Volchenkov's shot bounced off of Kings defenceman Slava Voynov and into the Los Angeles net.

Meanwhile, New Jersey could not score off of Los Angeles' five penalties during the game, including Jeff Carter's high-sticking double-minor in the first period that led to a Devils 5 on 3 for about a minute.

This contest also saw the return of Kings' left winger Simon Gagne, who had been out of the Los Angeles lineup since December 26, 2011, due to a head injury.

In 2010, Gagne, along with current Kings teammates Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, were members of the Philadelphia Flyers that lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.

New Jersey avoided being swept for the first time in team history when Adam Henrique scored at 15:29 of the third period to break a 1–1 tie, and Ilya Kovalchuk added an empty-netter with 19.1 seconds left, defeating the Kings 3–1, and forcing a fifth game.

The game remained scoreless until 7:56 of the third period when Patrik Elias shot a rebound into the Los Angeles net, giving New Jersey their first lead of the series.

This lead was cut short a minute later, as David Clarkson was called for boarding at 8:52, and four seconds later Drew Doughty tied the game with a power play goal for the Kings.

The Devils gave the Kings their only playoff road loss with a 2–1 victory, ending their 10-game road-winning streak, and became the first club since the Detroit Red Wings in 1945 to come back from a 3–0 deficit in the Cup Finals to force a game six.

New Jersey scored first at 12:45 of the first period, their first power play goal of the series, after Jonathan Quick misplayed the puck and Zach Parise found an open net on the other side before the Los Angeles goalie could recover.

The Kings tied the game at 3:26 of the second when Justin Williams took a pass from Matt Greene, skated into the New Jersey zone and beat Martin Brodeur.

But the Devils took the lead for good at 9:05 of the second when Bryce Salvador's shot deflected off of Kings defenceman Slava Voynov into the Los Angeles net.

At 10:10 of the first period, New Jersey's Steve Bernier was assessed a major boarding penalty and a game misconduct on a hit to Los Angeles' Rob Scuderi.

Regarding Bernier's game-changing penalty, Rich Chere of The Star-Ledger wrote that it was "the most devastating call in the Stanley Cup finals since the illegal curve on Marty McSorley's stick in 1993".

The 2012 Stanley Cup Finals marked the first time two American-born captains faced off in the championship series of the NHL as Dustin Brown of Los Angeles battled against Zach Parise of New Jersey.

The Kings are the fourth consecutive team to win the Stanley Cup after opening the season in Europe as part of the NHL Premiere Series.