It’s that time again, New Jersey! The Devils dynasty demonstrated once again that they are a championship prone hockey club, and Friday night’s 3-2 victory ousted the New York Rangers; moving them forward in their fight for a fourth Stanley Cup. The victory was achieved in a first and only overtime, and none other than rookie Adam Henrique put the final nail in the coffin at 63 seconds in. Rique’s overtime, game winner was the second these playoffs, and seeing it again and again could be the routine for future Devils’ highlights he features himself in.
It had been a nine year term since the New Jersey Devils last played in the Stanley Cup Finals. Now that they are in, the shine of silver and nickel reflecting from the Stanley Cup shines closer as motivation for a chance to hold it high and proud; however, this fifth trip to the Stanley Cup Finals was not handed over by the Rangers in Game 6. Once again, the Rangers finished with significantly more shots on goal with 35 to the Devils 29.
As witnessed in the first period of Game 5, shots on goal are only as good as the netting behind the goal tender the fall in to. The Devils scored on three of six shots in the first period of Game 5. Though both teams finished with 14 shots on goal at the end of Game 6’s first period, only one team had put any scores on the board-the Devils. Ryan Carter was one of those 14 Devils shots. His rebound from a Lundqvist, pad-save on Steven Gionta’s shot put the Devils up 1-0 at 10:05.
Ilya Kovalchuk’s complete offensive repertoire was present again. His team contributions have been amazingly diverse in these playoffs, and to go with the 10 assists he had coming in to Game 6, Kovi added his 7th goal of the postseason at 13:56. The score came with 35 seconds remaining on a power play, and it was iconic offensive awareness by Dainius Zubrus instantly seeing Kovalchuk making the rush towards center. Zubrus relayed a pass from David Clarkson that found Kovalchuk rushing in at an angle where Lundqvist could not react with enough haste (oh yeah- Kovi also added another assist in overtime on Henrique’s game winner.)
As stated, the Rangers did not make this game’s lead, or any lead the Devils had the entire series, easy to hold. The second period was all to New York scoring on 2 of 13 shots to Martin Brodeur. The first goal was credited to Fedetenko who rebounded a wrap around by Ryan McDonagh in to the net with 10:13 left in the period. Afterwards, the Rangers won an off sides faceoff that later saw a Girardi shot get tipped in by Ryan Callahan at 13:41.
A big, power play stop from Marty on a Brad Richards shot ensured there would not be a third, unanswered goal from the Rangers. The shot ricocheted back to Richards after a Del Zotto slap shot, and Marty dropped to his side on the ice denying the low-flying Richards put back.
What a pleasure to eyesight the game winner was. A three-Devil, four-Ranger scramble for a loose puck in front of Lundqvist made it tough on the eyes to sight its location. Kovalchuk put it on net in front, Alexei Ponikarovsky wristed the deflection back to Lundqvist from an angle to the goalie’s right side, and after bouncing underneath the Rangers’ goalie, Henrique tapped in the puck to close the book on the 2012 Eastern Conference Championship.
Henrique’s game winner produced joyous-jumping, vibrant screams of “WE WON”/“IT’S IN,” and lots of involuntary hugging of corresponding Devils fans. The series win feels plenty well as it was against such a stringent rival that success against them is rivaled with winning the cup. But not a soldier in the Devils’ army is ready to call it a season. Work remains to be done, and the next project lies with a Los Angeles team who made a colorful run through their first three rounds of the playoffs.
The Kings’, featuring Dustin Brown and his team-leading 7 goals, also feature another impressive goalie by the name of Jonathan Quick. During the regular season, the Devils took both matches against the Kings. These wins included a shootout against Quick October 13th as well as a 3-0 shutout on the Kings’ ice October 25th.
Though the Devils were triumphant in their regular season accounts with the Kings, these playoff Kings made their way along the west with hardly any qualms. The surprise they have tailored stems from them entering the playoffs as a #8 seed, and they surpassed seeds #1 (Vancouver,) #2 (St. Louis,) and # 3 (Phoenix) by losing just two games altogether. Like Lundqvist (prior to facing the Devils,) the most goals Quick has given up in the playoffs is three. He leads all goal tenders with both a .946 save percentage and 1.54 goals against average.
Home ice favors the Devils in this series as they finished 6th in their conference to the 8th Los Angeles finished. As was the Game 6 closer against the Rangers, home ice should not be perceived as a crutch or an advantage. Despite great years featuring legend Wayne Gretzky, the Kings have never won a Stanley Cup.
The key utilities for the Devils in this series: playoff experience and tight, stingy defense. The pressures of winning a Stanley Cup drastically heighten from a Conference Finals to a Stanley Cup Championship. The Devils are relying on “Bryce Almighty” Salvador to continue his stone walling of key offensive players, and those who have won cups (Brodeur, Elias, Carter, etc.) must be there to dictate the level of readiness for youngsters like Adam Henrique. All three seven-goal scorers (Zajac, Kovalchuk, and Parise) are going to be needed to put plenty of pressure on the young and inexperienced Quick, and the stellar-playing fourth line consisting of Ryan Carter, Steven Gionta, and Steve Bernier will need to be personally adamant about their on-going contributions.
After nine years the time has come again. This New Jersey Devils team has reached the Stanley Cup Championship for the fifth time in their history. Marty Brodeur has already won three for the team, and let nothing stop the team and him from contributing to his fourth.