Devils Survive and Force Game Five!

It took five games but the Devils offense FINALLY figured out how to beat Jonathan Quick. It took till the 3rd period of the fourth game of the finals but they were able to do it. The first period was a hard back and fourth battle with neither team being able to hit the back of the net. Shots were in favor of the Devils in the opening period 8-7, and the quality of scoring chances was about even. The Devils flat out dominated the opening minutes of the hockey game just buzzing around the Kings net and getting a few pucks threw towards the cage, but either they were missing the net or, once they got through, were shot right into Quicks pads. I've been saying this all series long for the Devils to score, they have to shoot up high on Quick. To Quick's credit though, he was indeed very good in that opening period including this outstanding glove save on Peter Sykora:

As for Quick's counterpart Martin Brodeur, he had to make some solid stops of his own from Kings shooters. So the first period came and went without a goal being scored, and both teams going 0 for 2 on the powerplay. As for the second period, it was much of the same, except the ice seamed to start to tilt just a bit more in the Kings favor. Shots in that middle period were 7-3 in favor of the Kings and they had the only powerplay of the period, and came up empty on it. The Devils have had a tendency in the first three games of the series to have periods where they are simply outplayed by the Kings and somehow they find a way to still hang around. Only time all series the Devils really seemed to let the Kings attack effect them was in game three, which the Kings won 4-0. But on this night the Devils wouldn't let it get to them.

To the third period we go, and with Lord Stanley's Cup in attendance, the Devils FINALLY find a way to break through on Jonathan Quick. For most of the start of the third the Devils had been buzzing. Then at the 7:56 mark of the period, Bryce Salvador let a shot go from the point that Quick was able to stop. However he was unable to control the rebound and Patrik Elias cashed it in on the backhand for his 5th of the playoffs. For Elias, that was his first goal since game five of the eastern conference finals against the Rangers and only his second point in the final series (he had an assist on the lone Devils goal in game one). So thanks to Elias being in the right place at the right time, the Devils had their first lead of the series at 1-0. Then about a minute after Elias gave the Devils the lead, David Clarkson gets called for Boarding, giving the Kings their 4th powerplay of the game. This time they were able to cash in on it, as Drew Doughty scored his 4th of the playoffs just four seconds into the man advantage, beating Brodeur five hole. So now with the game tied at 1 both teams looked to try and break the tie.

The Kings started to build a little momentum off the Doughty goal, twice having quality scoring chances off odd man rushers, but Brodeur would come up big again denying the Kings both times. The Devils would finally reward Marty's goaltending with a huge goal off a Kings turnover. LA tried to rush up the ice with just about four and half left in regulation but lost the puck at center. New Jersey then turned the puck the other way and this happened:


Adam Henrique cashed in on the cross ice feed from David Clarkson and beat Quick high stick side. That's right the Devils actually hit the net high on Quick and the puck went into the net. Henrique's goal came at the 15:29 mark of the 3rd period and was his 4th of the playoffs. Of his three previous goals, two had been overtime and series ending goals. He scored a pair of goals in game seven against the Panthers, the second one being the winner in double overtime, and his third goal was the overtime and series clinching goal against the Rangers in game six of the conference finals. Los Angeles pressed the attack a bit more after that goal to try and tie the game. However it was all for nothing as Ilya Kovalchuck iced the game away with an empty netter at the 19:40 mark to seal the deal and force game five. For Kovalchuck that was his first point in the finals, his league leading 8th goal and 19th point of the playoffs. Devils outshot the Kings in the 3rd period 13-8 and for the game 24-22.

The difference for me in this game for the Devils as compared to the first three games is the fact that even though they were outplayed in parts of the hockey game they didn't get down on themselves and kept going with the pedal to the medal. Another fact that the Devils finally showed more heart was the fact that they were able to get the first goal of the game when Elias scored early in the third. They showed resolve when they kept coming at the Kings after LA tied the game with Doughty's powerplay goal. Aside from the Devils sluggish play in the middle period, they were the better team on this night and quite frankly they had to be, as a loss would have ended the finals. Still its a large hill for them to climb as New Jersey is still in a 3-1 hole in the series.

The scene now shifts back to New Jersey for game five on Saturday night. Thew two days off between games will help both teams. For the Devils to be able to force game six, they really need to keep the pressure on the Kings, especially on their home ice, and not let up on the attack. Looking at this from the Kings perspective, if they want to end this series Saturday, they need to go back to what worked in the first three games of the series, and that was making the Devils work harder then they are used to and get the Devils back on their heels. An interesting side note related to the finals, the last time somebody swept the finals was the Detroit Red Wings, who swept the Capitals in the 1998 Cup Finals and no team has won the cup on home ice since 2008 when the Detroit Red Wings finished off the Penguins in six games.

Game Five of this years finals is Saturday Night at 8PM from the Prudential Center in Newark on NBC!