Quick Gets 3rd Shutout of Playoffs as Kings Blank Devils in Game 3!

For the 3rd time in these playoffs and the first time in the finals Kings goalie Jonathan Quick has shut out a team. It could not have come at a more pivotal time. Thanks to Quick's brilliance in the nets the Kings won their first home game in the finals since 1993 by a 4-0 score to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals over the New Jersey Devils. The first period moved by somewhat quickly and saw the Devils take a 7-6 shots advantage in the opening period. The Devils controlled play for the most part as carry over from Game Two, again in which they carried most of the play before losing in Overtime. The best chances for the Devils at the start of game three came on a 5 on 3 at the end of the period, including a 4 minute minor on the latter half of the 5 on 3 to Jeff Carter for High Sticking. The Devils had a golden opportunity to take the lead but squandered it. On that 5 on 3 power play the Devils either made one too many passes, or when they did eventually shoot the puck, the shot it right at Quick's pads. Quick is a butterfly goalie and leaves the top half of the net open usually. For the Devils to have a chance in this series they have to try and go higher on Quick more.

When they did try and go high, the shots either weren't high enough or they were shot wide or over the net. The scoring chances were there for the Devils they just weren't able to convert on them. So the opening period was scoreless. To the 2nd period we go, and this is where the Kings finally started to open the game up in their favor. Shots in the middle period were even at 9 per team but the Kings were able to hit the back of the net twice. First was on a wild scramble at the side of Martin Brodeur's net and somehow Alec Martinez was able to jam the puck home at the 5:40 mark for his first of the playoffs. Here's what the goal looked like:



So thanks to Martinez jamming at the puck the Kings had a 1-0 lead. The Kings started to take control of the game, despite running into some penalty trouble of their own. LA would extend the lead to 2-0 at the 15:07 mark thanks to Anze Kopitar's 8th of the playoffs.This had to be one of the prettiest passing plays of the entire playoffs thanks to the beautiful cross ice pass made by Kings captain Dustin Brown to set up the goal. If you don't believe me, see for yourself:



It seemed as if for a moment the Devils defense lost Kopitar on the ice and that can't happen. Apparently the Devils almost forgot what happened in Game One when Kopitar was left alone even for a moment. So after 40 minutes of play had been completed the Kings had a 2-0 lead.

The 3rd period would not get any better from a Devils perspective. Shots were even again in the 3rd as each team fired six on goal, but the Kings were able to put two in the goal behind Marty Brodeur to seal the game. Both goals, ironically enough, came on the Kings only two power plays of the game. First up Mark Fayne was called for cross-checking, then at the 4:15 mark Jeff Carter connected for his 6th of the playoffs. At this point Jeff Carter has started to look like the guy who used to terrorize the Devils as a member of the Flyers for all those years he played in Philly. Then the Kings capped off the scoring on another power play goal. Marek Zidlicky had been called for high sticking, and at the 6:47 mark Justin Williams connected for his 3rd of the playoffs to seal the deal.

Justin Williams is no stranger to scoring big goals in the playoffs as he did that many times in 2006 for the Carolina Hurricanes when the 'Canes won the cup that year, he had 18 points in 25 playoff games that year. Jeff Carter is no stranger to playoff scoring either, as he has 21 points in 47 career playoff games heading into this season. As for the goaltending Jonathan Quick has played outstanding in this post season and is my vote to win the Conn Smyth Trophy as Playoff MVP. Now there are a number of solid candidates in the Los Angeles lineup, and they still have to play game four (maybe more depending on what the Devils do in that game). I mean there are two other guys in the Kings lineup who would be solid contenders for that playoff MVP trophy, most notably Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar. Kopitar has 8 goals and is tied for the lead in playoff scoring with 18 points. Dustin Brown has 10 assists and is doing a great job of leading by example. But lets really be honest here if it wasn't for Jonathan Quick being as good as he has been in this years playoffs the Kings might have been eliminated in the first round by Vancouver.

Now looking at game four from the prospective of the New Jersey Devils, some changes are going to have to be made. The biggest lineup change I would consider making would be to put Peter Sykora back into the lineup, for two reasons, 1) try and add some scoring punch and 2) add some more veteran leadership. Another thing the Devils need to work on is trying to get Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuck going, as both guys have been held pointless in the finals. The one thing I feel the Devils really need to do most is simplify their game and what they do with the puck. What I mean is, there are times in the first few games of the series I have seen them make one too many passes of the puck and they are not shooting the puck enough, they haven't really made Quick work overly hard.  Also if possible the Devils need to try and find a way to keep shooting high on Quick, as I mentioned before he goes down a lot, and not miss the net. Quick usually leaves the top half of the net open to shoot at. So unless the Devils can find a way to correct these problems by tomorrow night, the series and season will be over. Game Four is tomorrow night at 8pm on NBC!

Game Two of Cup Finals Goes Again to OT Jeff Carter Hero

For the second time in this cup finals a game has had to require overtime to decide a winner, and for the second game in these finals, the Kings won it in Overtime. This time the hero wasn't Anze Kopitar, it wa Jeff Carter. Here is the story thanks to NHL.com.

While sitting in the visitor's dressing room during the intermission before overtime Saturday night, Kings forward Jarret Stoll couldn't help but notice his team's confidence and belief.

Stoll has seen both grow throughout the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but with Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on the line, he needed to see it again -- and he did.

"We knew we had the goal in here somewhere," Stoll said after the Kings' 2-1 win. "That's all we were talking about in the intermission, how someone had it."

That someone was Jeff Carter, because like the rest of his teammates he never stopped believing -- and, more important, never stopped moving his feet before scoring at 13:42 of the extra session.

Los Angeles is heading home with a 2-0 lead in the series and a chance to win the Stanley Cup at Staples Center. The Kings are the first team in history to go 10-0 on the road in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

They might not play another road game. Game 3 is Monday in L.A. (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, RDS).

"He's a goal-scorer," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said of Carter. "You know what, you're counting on him to score a big goal."

After getting stuffed by Martin Brodeur (30 saves) on the right side of the net, Carter curled around the back of the net and found the puck on the left side. He carried it through the circle and from high above the hash marks he rifled a shot past Brodeur's blocker side for the Kings' second straight overtime winner in as many games in the Stanley Cup Final.

"Just gotta find a way to get a bounce, get a break, find a loose puck, whatever," Stoll said. "Carts stayed with that play and he made a great shot. It had to be a great shot to win this game, the way it was going."

Just like it did in Game 1, when Anze Kopitar beat Brodeur on a breakaway 8:13 into overtime to give the Kings an identical 2-1 win.

The Devils have to live with both overtime losses despite feeling much better about the way they played in Game 2.

They had a 30-21 advantage in shots on goal through regulation. The game-tying goal, scored on a deflection by Ryan Carter, was a direct result of a strong forecheck by their fourth line.

"We played a much better game," coach Peter DeBoer said. "I knew we would respond. We did it the right way."

And still it wasn't enough, largely because the Kings had the better run of play in overtime, including an 11-3 edge in shots on goal, and goalie Jonathan Quick was again on point when it mattered most. Quick finished with 32 saves, giving him 48 on 50 shots in the two games in New Jersey.

Neither of the Devils' goals in the first two games was clean. The goal they got in Game 1 went in off of Kings defenseman Slava Voynov's chest; the goal they got in Game 2 was a deflection by Carter off a point shot by Marek Zidlicky.

"We worked hard and we did a lot of good things; we're just having a hard time scoring," Devils captain Zach Parise said. "Again, same as the first game, that's the difference. It (stinks), but we can't do anything about it now. We'll go there and try to get a couple back."

"There" is Los Angeles, where the Devils and Kings will play Games 3 and 4, where the Kings could potentially win the Stanley Cup if they do win Game 3.

That's not something they were prepared to talk about following Game 2.

"You don't win the Cup winning two games in the Final," Stoll said.

They got closer to winning the Cup on Saturday because Jeff Carter made the play of his career, because Quick was terrific when the Devils pushed early and late, and because Drew Doughty scored a highlight-reel goal to give L.A. a 1-0 lead 7:49 into the first period.

Doughty did it with a terrific individual effort. He carried the puck in from the far blue line. He went around Stephen Gionta at center ice and then Carter at the Devils' blue line before he smoked a shot from the right circle that went through Bryce Salvador and past Brodeur.

Doughty, who also had an assist on Kopitar's overtime winner in Game 1, has three goals and nine assists for 12 points in the playoffs. He played a game-high 32:19 in Game 2 after playing a game-high 28:15 in Game 1.

"I just saw some ice in front of me, decided to skate with the puck," Doughty said. "I don't know who the D-man was, but I tried to use him as a screen. Marty has that quick glove so I went blocker side. I didn't even know it went in actually, but luckily, it did."

Ironically, Carter also went blocker side to beat Brodeur. In fact, on his OT-winner in Game 1, Kopitar deked to his forehand so he could score on Brodeur's blocker side.

The difference is Kopitar scored on a breakaway while Carter had the luxury of Dustin Penner, all 6-foot-4 and 242 pounds of him, screening Brodeur.

"Penns did a great job of getting right in front of Marty there," Carter said. "To be honest, I don't even know if he saw around Penns, or if he saw the shot."

Brodeur said he was mostly screened and didn't pick up the shot until late -- until too late.

"It's unfortunate, but with a little luck on our side, we could be up 2-0," Brodeur said. "I think we have to find that positive and go into the L.A. and sneak one game as early as we can and go from there. It makes it a little harder, but we're here now."

The only problem is the Devils are facing a team that believes it will win no matter the circumstance or the venue.

The Kings have won 14 games so far. Two more gets them a summer with Stanley.

"We haven't won anything," Stoll said.

Yet.

Here is the video from Jeff Carter's Heroics:


The Kings are the 12th team in history to win the first two games of the cup finals. Nine of the previous eleven have gone on to win the Cup. this is the first time since 2004 the first two games have ended in identical scores. It was 2-1 in both games this year and in 2004 it was 4-1 games in both one and two, with the Flames taking game one and the Lightning taking game two. The last time a team won the first two games of the finals by the same score was in 1997 when the Detroit Red Wings beat the Philadelphia Flyers by scores of 4-2. Game three will be monday night from the Staples Center in LA at 8 p.m.

Johan Santana Tosses First No Hitter In Mets History!

Something most people thought they would never see has FINALLY happenend. It has taken over 50 years of baseball in Queens, but the Mets franchise has finally been on the winning side of a no-hotter. Johan Santana last night threw the first no hitter in New York Mets franchise history in a 8-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardnials. Here is the story from ESPN New York:

After more than a half century and 8,020 games, Johan Santana pitched the first no-hitter in New York Mets' history.

Aided by an umpire's missed call and an incredible catch by a left fielder who grew up in Queens as a Mets fan, Santana's start is also the first no-hitter of his career.

In the 8-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, Santana, who missed last season because of shoulder surgery, walked five and struck out eight, while testing the limits of his comeback.

Mets manager Terry Collins said before the game that he wanted to limit Santana to a maximum of 110-115 pitches. Santana finished with a career-high 134.

Afterward, an emotional Collins expressed his trepidation about going after history instead of preserving Santana's long-term health.

"I just couldn't take him out," Collins said.

In the ninth inning with 27,609 fans all standing, Santana's final pitch, a 3-2 change-up, resulted in David Freese swinging and missing. Santana's teammates all stormed the mound to celebrate.
Santana said he never has thrown a no-hitter at any level.

"I don't think I've ever even thrown a no-hitter in video games," Santana said.

The San Diego Padres, established in 1969, are now the only team in the majors without a no-hitter. The Mets previously had 35 one-hitters.

During his postgame news conference, an emotional Collins lamented his decision to keep Santana in the game because of fear of damaging the shoulder.

"I'm very excited for him, but in five days, if his arm is bothering him, I'm not going to feel very good," Collins said.

In the dugout, during the Mets' three-run seventh inning, Collins told Santana he was his "hero" and hen he handed the decision of if he wanted to stay in or not to Santana.

"I just said, 'Look, I tell you guys every day you have a say in what goes on here,' " Collins said. " 'You have a voice and your voice is going to be heard.' "

Santana was never going to remove himself. In reality, the no-hitter probably should have been over before the seventh.

To start the sixth, Carlos Beltran, in his first game at Citi Field since leaving the Mets last year, scorched a shot down the line. A replay showed Beltran hit the white chalk on the third-base line. Umpire Adrian Johnson ruled it a foul ball and Beltran ended up grounding out.

"I saw the ball hitting outside the line, just foul," Johnson said to a pool reporter after the game.

Johnson said he saw the replay, but upon further review, declined to comment if he thought the ball was fair or foul.

In the seventh with one down, left fielder Mike Baxter -- who grew up in Whitestone, Queens, 10 minutes away from old Shea Stadium and Citi Field -- made a catch to save the no-hitter, going back on a bullet from Yadier Molina.

Baxter, running to the wall, extended his glove and made a catch. As he stepped on the warning track, Baxter did not slow down. His body, leading with his shoulder and his head, violently slammed into the wall and he collapsed to the ground.

"That ball that Baxter caught, he'll go down in the annals of New York Met lore because of that," said pitcher R.A. Dickey.

Collins and team trainers ran out to left field. Baxter eventually got to his feet and walked off the field. The crowd gave him a standing ovation. The Mets announced Baxter has a left-shoulder bruise but was undergoing further testing.

"What a night for the Mets," Baxter said in the Mets' clubhouse. "As a Met fan as a kid, it is a huge night for the Mets. We have been waiting a long time for a no-hitter."

In the ninth, Matt Holliday lined out to center for the initial out. The second out came on an Allen Craig looping liner to left.

Friday night added to an incredible comeback from shoulder surgery for Santana, who is now pitching as well as when he was perennially a Cy Young Award contender.

With two outs in the eighth, the fans chanted "Johan! Johan! Johan!" Santana walked Rafael Furcal on his 118th pitch, and Collins came out to talk with Santana.

Four pitches later, Santana got Beltran to hit a meek infield liner that second baseman Daniel Murphy snared.

During the bottom of the eighth, Santana sat away from his teammates at the end of the dugout, awaiting his chance at history. He then made it happen for a franchise that has been trying since 1962.

After the final out, Santana did interviews with the Mets' TV and radio station before he walked into the clubhouse. Dickey said it was like they were waiting for the king. Dickey and his teammates had champagne waiting for Santana.

"We did this together," Santana said. "It is not just about me. We had a great, great game tonight. Everyone participated. We did the little things the way we were supposed to do it. And it worked out good. I thanked them because we as a team made history tonight."

Here is the video of the final call of the ball game thanks to Gary Cohen on SNY:


After this game there was another interesting stat brought to my attention thanks to ESPN. Santana's No-no was the 8th time in baseball history that a team has no hit the defending world champions. The eight times it happened are Johan Santana last night, Nolan Ryan in 1990 against Oakland, Dick Bosman in 1974 against Oakland, Jim Bibbly in 1973 against Oakland, Gaylord Perry in 1968 against St Louis, Virgin Trucks in 1952 against the Yankees, Lon Warneke in 1941 against the Reds, and George Mogridge against the Red Sox.

Now as for this game itself, Johan I think owes two big thank you's, and maybe two rolex watches to, a couple of people. First up is to third base umpire Adrian Johnson for the missed call. Now it was a bang bang play down the line on the Beltran shot in the 6th inning. The umpires are only human and can only make so many correct calls. After the game I heard a few critics on the internet say that this call is yet another reason that instant replay should be used in more situtations. I say that is total crap. Baseball is a good game as it is but if you add instant replay to more situtations games will take twice as long and that is something I, and probably most other people, don't really want.

The other major thank you that Santana owes is to Mike Baxter for this SICK catch in the 7th inning. Baxter may have injured his shoulder but it was so worth it. Great game all around and congratulations again to Johan Santana For the first no hitter in Mets History!

After 20 Years Nick Lidstrom Calls it A Career!

Well it was 20 years ago that Nick Lidstrom stepped foot on the Ice for the Detroit Red Wings. Four Stanley Cups and Seven Norris Trophies later, Nick Lidstrom has called it a career. The following story is coming to us from NHL.com:

It was hard to believe, even with Nicklas Lidstrom speaking the words himself.

The guy the Detroit Red Wings nicknamed "The Perfect Human" -- their captain for the past six seasons and a lock for the Hockey Hall of Fame as soon as he's eligible -- is officially hanging up his winged wheel sweater and retiring after 20 remarkable seasons in the Motor City.

Most regular season GP as Lidstrom teammate

191 different players
1107	Kris Draper
992	Tomas Holmstrom
907	Steve Yzerman
883	Kirk Maltby
816	Sergei Fedorov
715	Pavel Datsyuk
703	Brendan Shanahan
648	Darren McCarty
645	Henrik Zetterberg
604	Mathieu Dandenault

"Retiring today allows me to walk away from the game with pride, rather than have the game walk away from me," Lidstrom said with reddened eyes during a Thursday morning news conference at Joe Louis Arena's Olympia room.

In attendance with a large contingent of media were coach Mike Babcock, GM Ken Holland, Lidstrom's family, Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch and several current and former teammates. While Lidstrom never fully broke down at the podium, there weren't many dry eyes watching him speak.

"Looking around, you can see it's one of the most emotional days in Red Wings history," Ilitch said. "Nick has been the Rock of Gibraltar [for us]."

The rock isn't wavering on his retirement, either -- despite teammates hoping for a change of heart even as they drove to the arena.

"I'm completely comfortable with this decision," Lidstrom said. "It's not that the tank is completely empty. It's just that I don't have enough to carry through every day to play at the high level I want to play at. I can't cheat myself."

Lidstrom, who turned 42 on April 28, helped the Red Wings win four Stanley Cups and seven times was awarded the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman. He also played in a whopping 1,564 regular-season games in his NHL career to put him second behind only Gordie Howe on Detroit's all-time list and piled up 1,142 points -- fourth-most in franchise history -- with 264 goals and 878 assists.

His plus-450 career rating ranks eighth in League history and nearly equals the paltry 514 minutes he spent in the penalty box. And yet, his career numbers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs are just as impressive. No other Red Wings player appeared in more postseason games (263), as he never missed the playoffs. He also scored 54 goals to go with 129 assists for a total of 183 career playoff points and finished with a sterling plus-61 rating.

"Seven Norris Trophies, that's not by accident," Babcock said. "He's just that good. We're going to miss having him. Someone else is going to get an opportunity, but you're not replacing Nick Lidstrom. That just doesn't happen. Scotty [Bowman] told me this morning the two guys he coached that affected the game the most were Nick Lidstrom and Doug Harvey, and said the game was way different in those days -- but they always made the right decision and made no mistakes. [They] passed the puck to the right guy."

It wasn't all about passing with Lidstrom, either. He also decided 11 postseason games with game-winning goals and became the first European-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2002 before becoming the first European to captain his team to a Stanley Cup title in 2008.

Lidstrom, who made 12 NHL All-Star Games and was voted a First-Team All-Star 10 times, also holds the NHL record for most games played by a player who spent his entire career with one franchise.

"He's had a great career," said forward Tomas Holmstrom, who formed a close friendship with his fellow Swede during his own noteworthy Red Wings career. "It's a sad day for the Detroit Red Wings, for sure. I've been fortunate, (like) so many guys who have come through the locker room, to play with him."

This past season, Lidstrom also became just the sixth Detroit-based athlete in the four major North American professional sports to play at least 20 years all in the Motor City. Red Wings legends Alex Delvecchio (24) and Steve Yzerman (22), Detroit Tigers stars Al Kaline (21) and Alan Trammell (20) and Detroit Lions kicker Jason Hanson (20) are the others.

Not bad for a guy selected with the 53rd pick in the 1989 NHL Draft by former Red Wings general manager Jimmy Devellano -- who spearheaded Detroit's trend-setting European scouting push in the 1980s.

"I think he's going to go down as one of the all-time best defensemen ever to play," Yzerman told reporters in New York on Wednesday, when news first leaked out that Lidstrom would announce his retirement. "Having played with him and watched him closely from his first game -- people know about it now, but we've said it all along: you have to watch him closely to appreciate how good he is, what a great athlete he is, because he makes the position look so easy. He is a special athlete."

Lidstrom had weighed the option to retire for the past couple of seasons, but each time came to the decision to keep playing shortly before the NHL Draft in June -- giving Red Wings general manager Ken Holland time to prepare for the July 1 start of free agency.

This time, he reached his decision faster, something Holland knew was a red flag.

"I was little concerned the decision was a lot quicker this year than it was last year, which kind of set off some alarms for me," said Holland, who tried unsuccessfully to sell the legendary defenseman on playing one more season. "We visited for a few minutes and he told me he'd made a decision to retire and I listened to him. All the things he said up on the podium today were all the things he told me and that he didn't feel he had everything he needed, the energy he needed, to play at the level he wanted to play at and he'd made a decision to retire."

Holland even put the Chris Chelios option into play by sending the legendary former defenseman who now works in Detroit's front office out to speak with Lidstrom this past Tuesday. In fact, the star blueliners went out paddleboarding to chat and then headed out to grab a hamburger for lunch -- after Lidstrom told Chelios he was 100 percent certain retirement was the best option.

Chelios then called Holland, who was at the general managers' meetings in New York and informed him that a news conference to announce the end of Lidstrom's career was indeed in order.

"If I think back to the retirements that I've been to -- [Michael Jordan's], [Wayne Gretzky's], there's been guys who are great players, but no one's better than Nick. As good? Yes. But this is as big as it gets," Chelios said. "He's one of the best athletes ever and like [Ilitch] said, if you're going to talk about someone who's perfect, Nick's pretty darn close to being perfect. He's just a great guy."

He was even greater on the ice, where the puck-moving defenseman was always seemingly a move or two ahead of everybody else and was always in the right position -- whether it was defensively or offensively.

The end of this past season, however, was arguably the most frustrating of his career. Lidstrom missed a career-high 12 games, 11 with a painful, nagging ankle injury that turned out to be a hairline fracture. The injury never fully healed before his eventual return for the end of the regular season and Western Conference Quarterfinals -- which turned out to be a five-game loss to the Nashville Predators.

Lidstrom was hampered quite a bit by the aching bone and failed to log at least one postseason point for the only time in his illustrious career. On Thursday, Lidstrom said the injury has fully healed and wasn't the reason that kept him from returning.

"With my age, just being a little bit older and not having that motivation I've had in the past and having the drive and fire that I've had in the past not be there for me, made it a harder decision -- especially saying goodbye to something I've done for 20 years," Lidstrom said. "It's become a lifestyle. You're used to getting up in the morning, working out, coming down here, skating, traveling with the team and just the competitiveness of playing games. I'm going to miss all that, too, but if I don't have that fire, I can't be to the level I want to be at."

The fire burned long and hot for 20 seasons. As for career accomplishments, they are many in number and impressive. His seven Norris Trophy wins tied him with Harvey, the Montreal Canadiens great, and put him second only to Bobby Orr's eight. He also trails only Howe, Mr. Hockey himself, in the number of games spent wearing a Red Wings uniform.

Those seven Norris Trophies all came within the past 11 seasons -- his first was won in 2001 at age 31 and his most recent in 2011, not long after he turned 41. Lidstrom also starred internationally for Sweden, playing in four Olympics, including 2006 -- when he led all defensemen in scoring and fired home the game-winning goal of the gold medal game.

He talked openly about many of those accolades on Thursday and the great feelings that came with them, but said they were never at the top of his list of goals each season. His goal each season in the NHL was simple -- and he accomplished it four times.

"[I'm] going to leave that up to other people to decide," he said of the legacy he leaves behind. "I didn't set out to play 20 years, first of all. I had no other ambitions about how long I was going to be doing this, but once you experience this you want more. Once you reach that goal, you want to get back there again. That's been one of the things that's been driving me all these years. I never set goals of winning the Norris Trophy. The goal has been to play my best, but to win at the end and hoist that Cup one more time."

There is the story. Hopefully there is no doubt in anybody's mind that this man is a lock for the hockey hall of fame when his time comes. Thanks for the great career Nick!

Kopitar OT Hero as Kings Take Game One

Anze Kopitar continued his post season heroics for the Los Angeles Kings last night as he scored the overtime winner giving the Kings a 1-0 lead in this Stanley Cup Finals. Last night's game one marked the first cup finals game to be played at the Prudential Center in Newark, the first finals appearance for the Devils since 2003, and the first appearance in the finals for the Kings since 1993.

The first period seemed more of a feeling out process between the two teams. Shots were even at 5 a piece but the Kings scored the only goal, as at the 9:56 mark of the period Colin Fraser scored his first of the playoffs, set up by Jordan Nolan. For Fraser, not only was it his first goal of this playoffs, but it was his first career playoff goal. Not a bad way to get you're first career playoff goal in game one of the Cup Finals I'd say. As for Jordan Nolan, he is the son of former NHL head coach Ted Nolan, so that family is still having a big impact in the NHL. That opening period at the start seemed to be a feeling out process, but after the Fraser goal it seemed as if the Kings would really start to carry the play after that. It was  physical start to this game, as it has been for most of this years playoffs.

The 2nd period got underway and again it seemed as if the Kings were still carrying more of the play from the first period. Martin Brodeur had to make some solid stops for the Devils to keep them in this opening game, and he finally got some offensive3 help late in the period. The Devils offense looked flat for about the first half of the hockey game, not getting too many quality scoring chances. But as that 2nd period moved along the Devils seemed to start to chip away a bit at the Kings defense. Finally at the 18:48 mark Anton Volchenkov got the Devils on the board and tied the game. He was set up by Patrik Elias and David Clarkson. It was a somewhat broken play really as Volchenkov took the shot from a tough angle along the side boards and it appeared at first to hit off Elias, who was crashing the net but after the off ice officials took a look at the play it was revealed that Elias never touched the puck and it actually redirected off Kings defenseman Slava Voynov, who was at the side of the net trying to check Elias. So the teams skated off the ice at the end of two tied at two. Shots in the middle period where 9-3 in favor of the Kings.

The 3rd period saw no scoring and no penalties what so ever. Shots in the final period where 8-7 in favor of the Kings, but by far the best chance of the final period went to the Devils and Mark Fayne:


Fayne had a GOLDEN chance to put the Devils in the lead at that moment but he just shoved it wide of the cage. But the shot missed the net. Both Jonathan Quick and Martin Broduer had to play well in this 3rd period to keep the game tied and that's what they did to force overtime.

Overtime hit and both teams look very sloppy, especially with the play in the neutral zone. But it was the Devils who made one crucial mistake in overtime and it cost them. It came on a failed pinch attempt at the Kings blueline and Anze Kopitar cashed in on it at 8:13 of overtime:


The goal gave the Kings the victory in game one. Shots in overtime where 3-2 in favor of LA.The win was the Kings 3rd overtime victory in this years playoffs. The Devils fall to 4-2 in overtime in this years playoffs. Jonathan Quick stopped 16 of 17 Devils shots and his counterpart Martin Broduer snagged 23 of 25 Kings shots.

Going into this series I thought special teams was going to play a factor in this series, and at least in game one it wasn't much of a factor. The Devils went 0 for 2 on the powerplay and the Kings came up empty on their only powerplay. Also going into this contest I thought having a week off between their game five victory over the Coyotes and this game one would have a negative effect on the Kings, but it obviously didn't have any effect at all. Looking at this from a Devils perspective there is slight reason to panic, as there was no real life from the team, no solid offensive pressure from the outset, at least not from what I saw. The team may want to consider trying to shake up the line combinations just a bit for game two to try and find some offenseive spark and consistency but that decision is going to be up to the coaching staff as to what they want to do for the next game. There is a positive spin that can be put on this for the Devils. If you think back to rounds two and three in both cases they lost game one, and in round two against the Flyers they lost game one in overtime as well. Just something to think about heading into game two.

Game Two of the Finals will be Saturday night at 8 p.m. from the Prudential Center in Newark, and the game will be televised on NBC!

2012 Cup Finals Ready to Rock as it's Kings vs Devils!

The Stanley Cup Finals for the 2011-12 NHL hockey season are now set and ready to rock and roll. This years finals feature the Western Conference Champions the #8 Los Angeles Kings and the Eastern Conference Champions the #6 New Jersey Devils. The Eastern Conference winner will have home ice advantage for the first time since 2006, since the Devils had a better regular season record than the Kings. The Devils are the lowest-seeded team to have home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals, a record previously held by the Devils when won the Cup as a fourth seed in 2000.

The 2012 Finals ended a long Stanley Cup Finals appearance drought for the Los Angeles Kings, who had appeared in the Finals only once in franchise history, in 1993, when the Wayne Gretzky–led Kings lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games. That year, the Kings were the 6 seed in the western conference. The New Jersey Devils last appeared when winning the championship in 2003. In the Devils four previous trips to the finals they were seeded 5th (1995 Won Cup), 4th (2000 Won Cup), 1st (2001 Lost Cup), and 2nd (2003 Won Cup). So this is the lowest the Devils have even been seeded going into the finals.

The 2012 Stanley Cup Finals will mark the first time two American-born captains face off in the Final, ensuring the first American Stanley Cup-winning captain since Derian Hatcher of the Dallas Stars in 1999. It will also guarantee the lowest-seeded Stanley Cup champion, another record previously held by the Devils who won the Cup as a fifth seed in 1995. The Kings started the regular season at 13–12–4 before firing head coach Terry Murray on December 12. John Stevens served as interim coach before the team hired Darryl Sutter on December 20. Under Sutter, the Kings finished the season at 95 points, earning the #8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Los Angeles then went on to become the second team to eliminate the #1, #2, and #3 seeds from the playoffs in the same postseason (and the first team to do so in that order), after the 2003–04 Calgary Flames, also coached by Darryl Sutter, eliminating the Vancouver Canucks in five games, the St. Louis Blues in four games, and the Phoenix Coyotes in five games, respectively. In addition, the Kings went a perfect 8–0 on the road in these playoff games and the first team to go undefeated while en route to the Finals. The Kings are the second #8 seed to reach the Finals, following the Edmonton Oilers in 2006.

This was the Devils' first season under head coach Peter DeBoer, who replaced the retiring Jacques Lemaire during the offseason. Under DeBoer, New Jersey finished the regular season with 102 points, but ended up with the #6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Devils eliminated DeBoer's former team, the Southeast division-winning Florida Panthers, in seven games, and two of their division rivals, first the fifth-seeded Philadelphia Flyers in five games, and the first-seeded New York Rangers in six games.

Here is the schedule of games for this years Cup Finals:
WED, MAY 30, 2012 8 pm LOS ANGELES KINGS AT NEW JERSEY DEVILS NBC, CBC, RDS
SAT, JUNE 2, 2012 8 pm LOS ANGELES KINGS AT NEW JERSEY DEVILS NBC, CBC, RDS
MON, JUNE 4, 2012 8 pm NEW JERSEY DEVILS AT LOS ANGELES KINGS NBCSN, CBC, RDS
WED, JUNE 6, 2012 8 pm NEW JERSEY DEVILS AT LOS ANGELES KINGS NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*SAT, JUNE 9, 2012 8 pm LOS ANGELES KINGS AT NEW JERSEY DEVILS NBC, CBC, RDS
*MON, JUNE 11, 2012 8 pm NEW JERSEY DEVILS AT LOS ANGELES KINGS NBC, CBC, RDS
*WED, JUNE 13, 2012 8 pm LOS ANGELES KINGS AT NEW JERSEY DEVILS NBC, CBC, RDS

Now that we have you set up for the finals, lets take a closer look at how these two teams stack up.

Offense: The Kings average 2.93 goals per game and are being lead offensively by Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar. Brown has 16 points on 7 goals and 9 assists and Kopitar has 15 points on 6 goals and 9 assists. Four other Kings have double digits in points in these playoffs, Mike Richards (11 points), Justin Williams (11 Points), Dustin Penner (10 Points), and Drew Doughty (10 Points). As for the New Jersey Devils, they average 2.83 goals per game and are being lead offensively by Ilya Kovalchuck and Zach Parise. Kovalchuck has 18 points to lead all playoff scorers with 7 goals and 11 assists, while Zach Parise clocks in with 14 points at 7 goals and 7 assists. Four other Devils have hit double digits in points in the playoffs, Travis Zajac (12 points), Bryce Salvador (11 points), Adam Henrique (11 points), and David Clarkson (10 points). The Devils have had to play four more games in these playoffs than the Kings, so that may possibly help the kings out in this series. Edge: Even

Defense: The Kings have the best defensive team in the post season with allowing 1.57 goals per game. Jonathan Quick has played every minute in the playoffs for the Kings going 12-2 with a 1.54 GAA and a SV% of ,946. Meanwhile for the Devils, they have allowed 2.33 goals per game in the playoffs. Martin Brodeur has played 90% of the games in the post season going 12-5-1 with a GAA of 2.04 and a .923 SV %.  The Devils have allowed four goals in a game three times in this playoffs, which going against the Kings is going to be a tough challenge. Edge: Kings

Special Teams: The Devils Powerplay is operating at a 8.2% rate with penalty kill operating at 74.2%. As for the Kings, their powerplay is operating at a rate of 8.1% and a penalty kill of 91.2% and have been pretty lethal scoring shorthanded. The Devils have had a decent powerplay but really have to be on their heels when on the man advantage espically with the likes of Brown and Kopitar on the ice possibly for the Kings. Edge: Even.

Final Analysis: This is going to be a very Very good matchup for the Stanley Cup. Here ypou have two teams that at the start of the playoffs I don't think most analysts had playing for the Cup. This one may actually be the toughest to read. The reason being is that the Kings who are an eight seed weren't expected to get by the Canucks, did that and have lost only two games all playoffs long. As for the Devils they have had to play at least five games in every round in the playoffs to this point. The Kings might have a problem getting going in Game One as they will have had a week off after beating the Coyotes in the West Finals. This will be an even series no doubt. Prediction: Kings in 6!

(Statistics and some information provided by Wikipedia, The Hockey News and NHL.com)

The Curse is Dead! Devils Beat Rangers, Advance to Stanley Cup Finals

The long wait for Devils fans are over. For the first time since 2003 the New Jersey Devils will play for the Stanley Cup! They earned the right to do so after beating the New York Rangers in six hard fought games. The Rangers were the #1 seed in the east and had gone to seven games against both Ottawa and Washington. Meanwhile the Devils who were the #6 seed, had to go to seven games against Florida and then beat the Flyers in five games. So this was going to be a great matchup on paper.

The Rangers scored three unanswered goals in the third period, and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 21 New Jersey shots, to take Game 1, 3–0. For Lundqvist, that was his 2nd shutout of the playoffs. Even though it was a Devils loss, Marty Brodeur still showed flashes of his former self especially with this incredible save late in the 3rd period:



In Game 2, David Clarkson's score early in the third period broke a 2–2 tie to give the Devils a 3–2 victory. Ilya Kovalchuk and Ryan Carter scored the first two devils goals, while Marc Staal and Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers. Carter's goal actually tied the game at 2 before Clarkson scored on this beautiful deflection:


Game 3 then ended up being similar to Game 1, as New York scored another three unanswered goals in the third period, and Lundqvist stopped all 37 New Jersey shots, en route to a second 3–0 win in this series. With his fifth goal of the playoffs in Game 3, Rangers rookie forward Chris Kreider set an NHL record for goals and points (5 goals, 7 points) for a player in the playoffs before his first regular season game. This win gave Lundqvist his 2nd shutout of the series and 3td of the playoffs.

New Jersey then took Game 4, 4–1, as Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur made 28 saves and Zach Parise scored two goals. Bryce Salvador and Travis Zajac scored the opening goals for the Devils in this game in the 1st. After a quiet 2nd period Zach Parise got his first of the game on the power play early in the 3rd. Ruslan Fedotenko got the Rangers on the board with his first of the playoffs, but Zach Parise put the game away with an empty netter to seal the win. The goal by Fedotenko late in the playoffs was a bit of a surprise since this guy was a hero for the Lightning during their 2004 Cup run.

Game 5 ended up being a wild contest, as New Jersey scored three unanswered goals in the first period before New York tied it up early in the third period. Stephen Gionta, Patrick Elias, and Travis Zajac gave the Devils a 3-0 lead halfway through the opening period. Brandon Prust would cut the lead to 3-1 by the end of the 1st. Ranger Captain Ryan Callahan would score the lone goal in the 2nd period to cut the lead to 3-2. Then early in the 3rd period Marion Gaborik would tie the game at 3. Ryan Carter then scored at 15:36 of the third period, and Zach Parise added an empty-net goal, to give the Devils the 5–3 win.

Game 6 was just as memorable as any other between these two teams. With visions of the 1994 conference finals dancing in the heads of most Rangers fans, the two teams hit the ice. The Devils jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in this hockey game thanks to Ryan Carter and Ilya Kovalchuck. However the Rangers would come fighting back. Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Callahan scored the tying goals for the Rangers in the 2nd period. The 3rd period was scoreless forcing overtime. That's when the hero emerged. Adam Henrique's goal at 1:03 of overtime  gave New Jersey a 3–2 victory to win the series.

That marks the 2nd time this playoffs Henrique has been the OT hero, as he scored the winner in Double OT of Game Seven of the opening round against the Florida Panthers. So thanks to Henrique's heroics the Devils are back in the finals for the first time since 2003. As for the New York Rangers hats off to them. What the Rangers were able to do this season deserves a hat tip. Think about this for a second, last year the Rangers finished 3rd in the Atlantic Division and 8th in the eastern conference and were bounced in the opening round of the playoffs by the Washington Capitals. Now this season, they win the Atlantic Division, had the best record in the Eastern Conference, and were two wins shy of their first appearance in the cup finals since their win in 1994. So for what the Rangers were able to do this season, hats off to them and they have earned my full respect.

But now it's on to the Stanley Cup Finals where it will see the Los Angeles Kings play the New Jersey Devils. Check back right here on Solly On Sports for a full preview of the Stanley Cup Finals later this week.