Stanley Cup Finals Breakdown: L.A. Kings Looking Unstoppable
With three games in the books, we’re very close to crowning a new Stanley Cup champion, and the Los Angeles Kings have played brilliantly. This series has been just like the previous three for the Kings this postseason: they won both games one and two on the road (10-0 road record this postseason) by playing great defensive hockey and getting terrific net minding out of Jonathan Quick. The Kings’ goalie has been brilliant so far in this series, although he has been saved by both posts, the crossbar and even instant replay (Zach Parise pushed the puck into the net in game 1).
The New Jersey Devils have had plenty of opportunities the first two games to get a couple more goals. They’ve been stopped by the Kings on odd-man rushes, they’ve had some sloppy passing, and they’ve missed shots that would have beaten Quick wide and high. Quick likes to come out in the crease area, so if you can put a move on him, you should be able to get one by him. But no Devils have done that yet(or perhaps no one can). It hasn’t happened in this series nor the rest of the postseason in large part thanks to the Kings defensemen who clear rebounds after Quick makes the initial save. Quick also likes to play low, so the Devils should be able to beat him high if they can get some air underneath the puck. Whenever the Devils have tried that, though, their shots have sailed high or wide of the net. Devils goalie Martin Brodeur has made some fantastic saves himself, constantly flashing the leather on one-timers and stopping many odd-man rushes that come his way, though the Kings did beat him on one in the first game of the series. Here’s a quick recap of how this series has gone so far:
The puck dropped on the opening game of the Stanley Cup Finals last Wednesday and if enough people stayed to watch, they saw a great third period and overtime period. In the overtime period Anze Kopitar got the puck on a breakaway, made a nifty deke move on New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, and scored to give the Los Angeles Kings a 2-1 win and a 1-0 series lead. The Devils had outplayed the Kings in overtime to that point. They had multiple chances to get one by Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, but they failed to do so. At some point you figured the Kings would get a chance. For all of the excitement in overtime, though, the first two periods were rather boring. Each team only had five shots in the first period. Five shots! They both appeared to be a little rusty and hesitant after the long layoff. The second period wasn’t much more exciting. Through two periods of play, the Kings outshot the Devils 14-8. Ouch. But the score was tied 1-1. There was a lot more action and scoring opportunities in the third period, both goalies made some big saves and each team missed on several golden opportunities to break the tie. That set up the chance for Kopitar’s game-winning goal in overtime. Don’t expect another game like last night in terms of the low shots. It appeared that both teams were feeling one another out.
Game two also went to overtime tied 1-1 (Quick side note: The last time games one and two of the Stanley Cup Finals went to overtime was in 1951 between Toronto and Montreal). And just like in game one, game two was won by the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 over the New Jersey Devils thanks to Jeff Carter‘s goal with just under six-and-a-half minutes to go in the first overtime. This game was far more entertaining than game one as both teams got quality shots on net and there was a ton of action in each period. Both goalies had to work hard, and both teams had quality chances in regulation to win. The Devils had a shot go off the crossbar with fourteen seconds left and the Kings had multiple chances late in the game to get one by Martin Brodeur. This was a game that the Devils had to win, and perhaps should have won, in order to win the Stanley Cup. But they failed to do so as the Kings improved to 10-0 on the road in this season’s playoffs.
Game three was completely dominated by the Kings. Alec Martinez scored the first goal of the game in the second period and Kopitar added a second one in the period. The Kings’ 2-0 lead looked insurmountable given the play of their blue-liners and Quick. The difference in this game was each team’s power play. The Devils were a woeful 0 for 6, including wasting a five-on-three power play and a four minute double minor penalty to Jeff Carter. The Kings (six for seventy-seven on the power play entering the game) were a perfect two for two on the power play, with both goals coming in the third period to put the game away. The Devils kept missing golden opportunities to get one by Jonathan Quick. They just haven’t capitalized at all in this series. There is no hope that they win this series. They may be able to win game four, but even that remains in doubt given how they’ve played so far in this series. It’s a shame the Finals have go this way because the NHL playoffs as a whole have been fantastic. Game four is Wednesday night at 8:00 PM ET on NBC Sports Network.
If you’re wondering how the Dallas Stars faired against each of the Stanley Cup finalists, you might be pleasantly surprised:
Dallas Stars split season series 3-3 with the Kings
1-0 loss @ L.A. October 22
5-3 loss vs. L.A. October 27
3-2 OT win vs. L.A. November 23
2-1 win @ L.A. December 10
5-4 shootout win @ L.A. January 12
4-2 loss vs. L.A. February 12
Dallas Stars split season series 1-1 win the Devils
3-1 win vs. NJ October 29
6-3 loss @ NJ December 16
So whichever team wins the Stanley Cup (and at this point if the Kings don’t win it will be a historic shock), Stars fans can say, “Hey, we beat you guys in the regular season!”, and maybe that gives some hope for next year. Then again, I think pretty much every team can say they beat either the Kings or the Devils at least once this season, but a little positive spin never hurts.