The New Jersey Devils defeated the top seeded New York Rangers in overtime 3-2 on Friday night, in front of an exuberant home crowd. Adam Henrique scored the game winner, to propel the Devils into the Stanley Cup Finals against the Los Angeles Kings. While the Devils took 6 games to finish off the Rangers, the Kings needed only 5 games to eliminate the Phoenix Coyotes. The Kings’ goalie Jonathan Quick has been the top goalie in the playoffs, while the Devils’ Martin Brodeur is the winningest goalie of all time. Not a bad match-up between the pipes, for Lord’s Stanley’s Trophy.
The Kings, as an eighth seed, had to beat the top seeded Vancouver Canucks in the first round, then they swept the second seeded St. Louis Blues in the next round, before beating the Coyotes in the Western Conference finals. The Devils had to go 7 games to beat the Florida Panthers in the first round. Then they beat the Philadelphia Flyers in just 5 games, before taking out the Rangers in 6 games. As a sixth seed, the Devils will actually have home ice advantage, for the first time in the playoffs. But that doesn’t bother the Kings, who have an unbelievable 8-0 record in the playoffs on the road.
The Stanley Cup Finals will not start until Wednesday in New Jersey. I wonder if the Kings will be a little rusty after having eight days between games. Of course, the Devils will have had five days in between games themselves. The Devils better hope the Kings are lethargic, because if they continue their record breaking road winning streak, the Devils will think it’s hell on ice.
