The Kings have had it almost too easy. They're good, but if the Devils get into the same groove against the Rangers and actually turn that dominance into goals, it will be over, um, quick. Devils in 5. Marty parades his 4th Cup, maybe into the sunset.
LA has beaten the 3 top seeds in the west, while not having home ice advantage for any of those series'. How can you say they've had it too easy?
nah. the Devils had it easy. they only had to play the 3rd, 5th and 1st seed. if the Devils win the first game the series may go 7. otherwise 6.
Easy in the sense that they've not faced much adversity yet. Obviously not easy in terms of opponents.
If you don't finish your chances, you don't deserve to win the game. LA didn't deserve to win this one, but New Jersey sure deserved to lose this one. One more thing: Brodeur will never beat Kopitar on a 1-v-1. Too old, better days have been behind him. Easy peasy for Anze. This from a Ducks fan. GKG.
Nonsense. The Kings played better Finals hockey for two of 3 periods and won in OT. It's true that the Devils could have won the game. They didn't convert scoring chances into goals, though, but that has something to do with the fact that the Kings make opponents press. It's extremely difficult to score on Quick, so the tendency is to try to make the extra pass. I've been watching hockey consistently for more than 30 years. This Kings team is better than the Ducks team that won the Cup in '07. The pressure is now on the Devils. They were behind in the series against the Rangers, but they lost the first game at the Garden. It's different now. They have to win Saturday or the Kings only need to win 2 of the next 5. If the Devils do win, the pressure then is back on LA to win at home and maintain the advantage. I predicted this would go 6. I'm still making that prediction.
Marty thought Kopi was going for the can opener, which is why he put his stick and blocker down to protect the 5 hole. Very smart of Kopi to deviate from his go to move...
Huh, picks/schmicks - New Jersey failed in the opener at home. The game I watched wasn't Devil's hockey, more what the Kings have been doing, high pressure forechecking to keep the puck out of their zone. If the Devils don't have an answer for this next game, this series is over in no time.
Can't agree more... I don't think Barry Melrose is walking through that door to shake the hand of whoever picked the series correctly. Just sit back and enjoy the best / last part of the NHL season... For as "bad" as the devils played I don't think the Kings played well either. Maybe it was the slurpee they were skating on? Maybe it was rust, nerves etc. Nevertheless, Kings up 1-0. If NJ had any nerves about gm 1 then they are gonna feel it in gm 2. the pressure is all on them. The Kings will continue to pressure and forecheck and tilt the ice in their favor. All 4 lines not only understand the plan, but they are executing. It's pretty damn wild to watch. A sport that was driven for parity, and one team, forget the seeding, they were a point out of the 3 seed, is pretty much making a mockery of "the grind" that is typically the Stanley Cup Playoffs
As a Leaf fan, i will forever hold a grudge against LA from 1993...i dislike the Devils as well for our playoff runs in 99/01...so i guess the lesser of two evils is NJ. Go Devils!!!
The Devils are in a bit of a hole. Too bad. They played well enough to win both games., but you have to score two goals to beat the Kings, most nights.
I think the Devils will take one game in LA, but this series just feels like it's all LA even though it's been closer than that. Either game could have gone the Devils way, but it just didn't happen. If this thing goes 6 or even 7 games, this could be the best Cup Final we've seen in quite a while. These two teams are so even.
If the Kings had lost Game 2, the pressure would be on them, coming home, trying to hold onto home ice advantage. But winning the second game, the pressure is all on NJ. They cannot lose the next game. Nobody comes back from 0-3. LA only has to play Kings hockey, have fun, take care of the puck, score a goal and make the Devils score 2.
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not the Cup Final, but i stand corrected. the reason they came back was that the Flyers were playing the Habs. i hate Montreal cuz the Habs beat the Kings in 1993, but they haven't been to the Finals since.
