Stanley Cup Finals
#8 Los Angeles Kings v. #6 New Jersey Devils
The Stanley Cup Finals will sometimes bring about bizarre, unexpected match-ups and this year's is one of those unexpected match-ups. The Western Conference Champion Los Angeles Kings were the number 8 seed and had the third least amount of points of the teams in the playoffs. The Kings struggled to score goals the entire regular season, they were 29th out of 30 in goals. But the Kings were carried by Goalie, Jonathan Quick who is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender) who only allowed 1.95 goals a game in the regular season and he has been just as good in the postseason. The Kings have started scoring the playoffs as they steamrolled through the Western Conference, beating the President's Trophy Winner Vancouver Canucks in 5, the 2nd seeded St. Louis Blues in 4 and the 3rd seeded Phoenix Coyotes in 5. The Kings won Game 5 in overtime on a goal by Dustin Penner. Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter and Dustin Brown have been excellent this postseason and have lead the LA offensive attack.
For the Eastern Conference Champion, the New Jersey Devils had 102 points but still finished 4th in the Atlantic Division and were seeded 6th in the Eastern Conference. The Devils had their worst season in 2010-2011 during the Martin Brodeur tenure with the Devils. Jersey finished with 81 points in 10-11, which was their worst season since they had 86 points in 95-96. The Devils under 1st year coach Peter DeBoer developed a great forecheck and behind the League's best Penalty kill in the regular season had the great regular season that I stated earlier. In the postseason, NJ struggled mightily with the 3rd seeded Florida Panthers, the Devils needed a double overtime victory in Game 7 to advance. In the Eastern Conference Semifinals, New Jersey drew 5th seeded Philadelphia. The Flyers had just knocked out Pittsburgh Penguins who were viewed by many as the favorite to win the Stanley Cup. The Devils dominated the series against Philly winning in 5 games with the only loss coming in overtime of Game 1. Then came the Eastern Conference Finals against the hated New York Rangers. The Devils and the Rangers had matched up in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1994 where the Rangers won in 7 and went on to win the Stanley Cup. The Devils vanquished the demons of 1994 by eliminating the topseeded Rangers in 6 games, winning the series on an overtime goal by Rookie Adam Henrique 63 seconds into overtime. The Devils have been led by steady play of the captain Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk and David Clarkson, great goaltending by Brodeur and the incredible play by their 4th line, Stephen Gionta, Steve Bernier and Ryan Carter who have a +9 goal margin this postseason.
The keys of the series come down to how will the Devils defense be able to handle the Kings size on the offensive end of the ice. How the Devils fourth line plays and if they will be able to continue giving DeBoer and company quality shifts. And which goaltender plays better Brodeur or Quick. I think this series is going to give us a great end to what has been an incredible Stanley Cup Playoffs. I like New Jersey to win their 4th cup since 1995 and for Martin Brodeur to ride into the sunset as a Stanley Cup Champion.
Devils in 7.
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