Post by thedarkangel1975 on May 30, 2012 22:58:17 GMT -5
NEWARK, N.J. -- The road streak is alive, and the Los Angeles Kings are just three wins away from their first Stanley Cup.
The Kings needed overtime in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, but Anze Kopitar's breakaway goal 8:13 into the extra session Wednesday at Prudential Center gave them a 2-1 win against the New Jersey Devils. It's L.A.'s ninth straight road victory in this year's playoffs, and this one is good enough to give the Kings a 1-0 lead in the championship round.
Los Angeles, which improved to 3-0 in overtime this postseason, is the first team in NHL history to win its first nine road games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If the Kings win Game 2 Saturday at Prudential Center (8 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, RDS), they will tie an NHL record for most road wins in a single postseason.
They'll also go home with a 2-0 lead in the series and the opportunity to win the Cup at Staples Center.
After Drew Doughty chipped the puck up the ice, Justin Williams delivered a perfect backhanded pass off the wall to Kopitar, who broke in alone on Martin Brodeur (23 saves) and beat him with a deke to his forehand. Brodeur went down and Kopitar beat him from the left side for his seventh goal of the playoffs.
The Devils had two players engage on Williams at the wall, leaving Kopitar alone in the middle of the ice.
Each team had a chance to take the 2-1 lead in the third period, but couldn't get it done.
Devils defenseman Mark Fayne missed a wide-open right side of the net with just over 10 minutes left in the third period after Travis Zajac batted the puck across the slot to him following Peter Harrold's blast from the blue line off the rush.
The Kings countered a little over two minutes later, but Brodeur went down to his side and stacked his pads to stone Doughty, who was shooting from below the hash marks in front of the blue paint. Mike Richards made a nifty move at the left-wing wall to get around the defense and set Doughty up for his chance.
Brodeur followed the save on Doughty by making another pad save on Dustin Penner nine seconds later and another one on Jeff Carter right after. He also had to close his five-hole tightly to stop Richards' wrist shot from between the hash marks with 1:08 to play in regulation.
The Devils applied pressure early in the third period and did eventually get the puck behind Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (17 saves), but referee Dan O'Halloran was standing directly behind the goal, looking through the top mesh, and immediately waved off the goal after seeing Zach Parise push the puck into the net with his hand.
Quick made a save on Parise with his stick after Fayne got the puck to the net with a shot from the right point. The puck stayed loose in the crease after Quick's save on Parise, who then used his hand to swipe it across the goal line and in 3:58 into the third period. After further review the call on the ice was upheld and it was not a goal, leaving the game tied at 1-1.
The Devils had the first five shots on goal of the third period, but the Kings got off eight of the next 10.
After going the first 14-plus minutes of the second period without a shot on goal, the Devils finally were able to get some pressure on Quick and it resulted in Anton Volchenkov's first goal of the playoffs 1:12 before the intermission.
Volchenkov fired a wrist shot from the left point that wound up bouncing up near the slot. Patrik Elias crashed the crease and at first glance it appeared that the puck went in off him, but it instead went into the net off the chest of Kings defenseman Slava Voynov.
Elias was originally credited with the goal, but it was changed during the intermission to Volchenkov, whose last playoff goal came in Game 3 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Final when he was with Ottawa. It was the Devils' ninth shot on goal of the game and only their fourth of the second period.
The score remained tied at 1-1 heading into the second intermission. The Kings had 14 shots on goal and 34 attempts at the net. The Devils attempted only 15 shots as the Kings were able to clog up the middle of the zone and keep them to the outside when they did have the puck.
Each team had a power play opportunity in the second period, but neither could capitalize. The Devils didn't even register a shot attempt, let alone a shot on goal, during their two-minute man-advantage with Jarret Stoll in the box for tripping Ryan Carter. L.A.'s power play fell to 6-for-75 in the playoffs.
The Kings grabbed the early lead and held it through the first 20 minutes.
Colin Fraser scored his first goal of the playoffs on a one-timer from the right circle 9:56 into the first period to give L.A. a1-0 lead. Jordan Nolan's pressure on Devils defenseman Andy Greene behind New Jersey's net created the turnover that led to the goal. Nolan got the puck and quickly fed Fraser in the right circle.
The play started way back in the other end as the Kings beat the Devils' aggressive forecheck with two quick passes up the ice.
There were only 10 shots in the first period -- each team had five -- but the Devils' two best chances came on misses by David Clarkson. New Jersey had two shots on the lone power play of the period, one each by Zajac and Marek Zidlicky, but Quick made a right pad stop on Zajac from the slot and held on to Zidlicky's wrister from the point.
It was a choppy start for both teams. The Devils were whistled for three icings in the first 2:06 of the game. The Kings won 12 of 17 faceoffs in the first period.
The Kings needed overtime in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, but Anze Kopitar's breakaway goal 8:13 into the extra session Wednesday at Prudential Center gave them a 2-1 win against the New Jersey Devils. It's L.A.'s ninth straight road victory in this year's playoffs, and this one is good enough to give the Kings a 1-0 lead in the championship round.
Los Angeles, which improved to 3-0 in overtime this postseason, is the first team in NHL history to win its first nine road games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If the Kings win Game 2 Saturday at Prudential Center (8 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, RDS), they will tie an NHL record for most road wins in a single postseason.
They'll also go home with a 2-0 lead in the series and the opportunity to win the Cup at Staples Center.
After Drew Doughty chipped the puck up the ice, Justin Williams delivered a perfect backhanded pass off the wall to Kopitar, who broke in alone on Martin Brodeur (23 saves) and beat him with a deke to his forehand. Brodeur went down and Kopitar beat him from the left side for his seventh goal of the playoffs.
The Devils had two players engage on Williams at the wall, leaving Kopitar alone in the middle of the ice.
Each team had a chance to take the 2-1 lead in the third period, but couldn't get it done.
Devils defenseman Mark Fayne missed a wide-open right side of the net with just over 10 minutes left in the third period after Travis Zajac batted the puck across the slot to him following Peter Harrold's blast from the blue line off the rush.
The Kings countered a little over two minutes later, but Brodeur went down to his side and stacked his pads to stone Doughty, who was shooting from below the hash marks in front of the blue paint. Mike Richards made a nifty move at the left-wing wall to get around the defense and set Doughty up for his chance.
Brodeur followed the save on Doughty by making another pad save on Dustin Penner nine seconds later and another one on Jeff Carter right after. He also had to close his five-hole tightly to stop Richards' wrist shot from between the hash marks with 1:08 to play in regulation.
The Devils applied pressure early in the third period and did eventually get the puck behind Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (17 saves), but referee Dan O'Halloran was standing directly behind the goal, looking through the top mesh, and immediately waved off the goal after seeing Zach Parise push the puck into the net with his hand.
Quick made a save on Parise with his stick after Fayne got the puck to the net with a shot from the right point. The puck stayed loose in the crease after Quick's save on Parise, who then used his hand to swipe it across the goal line and in 3:58 into the third period. After further review the call on the ice was upheld and it was not a goal, leaving the game tied at 1-1.
The Devils had the first five shots on goal of the third period, but the Kings got off eight of the next 10.
After going the first 14-plus minutes of the second period without a shot on goal, the Devils finally were able to get some pressure on Quick and it resulted in Anton Volchenkov's first goal of the playoffs 1:12 before the intermission.
Volchenkov fired a wrist shot from the left point that wound up bouncing up near the slot. Patrik Elias crashed the crease and at first glance it appeared that the puck went in off him, but it instead went into the net off the chest of Kings defenseman Slava Voynov.
Elias was originally credited with the goal, but it was changed during the intermission to Volchenkov, whose last playoff goal came in Game 3 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Final when he was with Ottawa. It was the Devils' ninth shot on goal of the game and only their fourth of the second period.
The score remained tied at 1-1 heading into the second intermission. The Kings had 14 shots on goal and 34 attempts at the net. The Devils attempted only 15 shots as the Kings were able to clog up the middle of the zone and keep them to the outside when they did have the puck.
Each team had a power play opportunity in the second period, but neither could capitalize. The Devils didn't even register a shot attempt, let alone a shot on goal, during their two-minute man-advantage with Jarret Stoll in the box for tripping Ryan Carter. L.A.'s power play fell to 6-for-75 in the playoffs.
The Kings grabbed the early lead and held it through the first 20 minutes.
Colin Fraser scored his first goal of the playoffs on a one-timer from the right circle 9:56 into the first period to give L.A. a1-0 lead. Jordan Nolan's pressure on Devils defenseman Andy Greene behind New Jersey's net created the turnover that led to the goal. Nolan got the puck and quickly fed Fraser in the right circle.
The play started way back in the other end as the Kings beat the Devils' aggressive forecheck with two quick passes up the ice.
There were only 10 shots in the first period -- each team had five -- but the Devils' two best chances came on misses by David Clarkson. New Jersey had two shots on the lone power play of the period, one each by Zajac and Marek Zidlicky, but Quick made a right pad stop on Zajac from the slot and held on to Zidlicky's wrister from the point.
It was a choppy start for both teams. The Devils were whistled for three icings in the first 2:06 of the game. The Kings won 12 of 17 faceoffs in the first period.
