Stick
a fork in the Devils. This series is
over.
Well,
not yet. There’s still at least one more
game to play. But the Kings’ decisive
Game 3 victory over the Devils was a clear signal that their first Stanley Cup
win is awfully imminent.
The
Devils will say they had their share of scoring chances – and they’re
right. They had six power plays in the
game. As it turned out, just like the
first two games of this series, the Devils would have been better off just
declining the power play (if that was allowed).
Los
Angeles, up 2-0 in the series going into tonight’s contest, won Game 3 in the
first period when their penalty kill stepped up.
The
Devils had a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage late in the first that was killed off
thanks to the stellar goaltending of Jonathan Quick, who made 22 saves tonight
for his third shutout of the playoffs. The
Devils had three more power play opportunities in the second period, all of
which went by the wayside.
Just
as the Devils saw their opportunities come and go, the Kings pounced on theirs
and took a stranglehold on the series in the second period.
Former
Miami Redhawk Alec Martinez led off the scoring for the Kings when he jammed a
loose puck past Martin Brodeur. Later on
in the second period, Anze Kopitar buried a beautiful feed from Dustin Brown to
put the Kings up 2-0.
They
weren’t done.
In
the third period the Kings showed the Devils what a successful power play looks
like. Jeff Carter and Justin Williams
each scored with the man advantage, less than three minutes apart, to give the
Kings a 4-0 lead early in the final frame.
They kept their foot on the pedal and displayed something that they hadn’t
yet showed this series – a killer instinct.
Even
though Games 1 and 2 were decided in overtime, the Kings have had more of a
will to win than the Devils throughout this series. Not to say the Devils don’t want to win the
Cup, but Darryl Sutter’s club is doing all of the necessary things to get to
Win No. 16.
Game
3 didn’t need overtime. The Kings were
dominant and they got better as the game went on. The Devils?
Well, they failed to show any sort of resiliency that they’ve had most
of this postseason. Now their hopes of
winning a fourth Stanley Cup are all but history.
Meanwhile,
the Kings are on the verge of clinching their first Stanley Cup. When you watch them, it’s hard to believe
that they are a No. 8 seed and barely made the playoffs. Right now they look like a No. 1 seed that
won a Presidents’ Trophy.
They
have a 15-2 playoff record and are 60 minutes away from raising hockey’s Holy
Grail.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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