The culminating NHL series with the right to hoist the Stanley Cup going to the victor begins at the Prudential Center on Wednesday night in New Jersey as the Eastern Conference Champions host the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Kings are coming off a Western Conference championship winning series victory over the surprising Phoenix Coyotes and head into the Cup finals looking to become the first 8th seeded team to win hockey's Holy grail in league history. The Devils meanwhile return to the Finals for the first time since 2003 and are led by Martin Brodeur in the crease and Ilya Kovalchuk up front and will look to get pressure on Kings netminder Jonathan Quick who has been the key to the team's success.
The Kings continue their path to the Cup after they upended the seemingly unstoppable Mike Smith and the Phoenix Coyotes in another convincing series victory and the Western Conference title. The Kings who finished in 8th place in the Conference coming into the postseason have clicked at the right time and after a season of underachievement the Kings can negate any scrutiny by finishing off one more team and be named league champions. As mentioned, Jonathan Quick has been the key to success for the Kings but he hasn't done it alone as the anemic offense of the Kings has been just as vital to the success of the team as their net minding and if the likes of Brown, Kopitar, Richards, and Carter can stay at the top of their game they could make quick work of the Devils in this series.
New Jersey has quietly put together a very strong playoff campaign after a lackluster playoff opening series against the Panthers in which they had to hold on for dear life and salavged a 7 game victory but since then have been a well oiled machine. After upsetting the Flyers in very convincing fashion the Devils upset their hated division rivals from New York to advance to the Cup Finals and claim the Eastern Conference title. Martin Brodeur has been very solid in the postseason and if he can maintain his A-class play in the final series his experience and ability to win the big games could have the Devils lifting the Cup once again. As for Game 1 these guys are going to have to take some time to get their legs back after a week off and I think it favours the home team especially as a home dog. Taking the Devils to start the series off with a victory.
No comments:
Post a Comment