I'll be honest...my interest in the Stanley Cup Finals took a major hit on Friday night. I'll still watch them, but I really don't care who wins. My vested interest is gone.
You'd think I'd be more upset about the Rangers than I am. Sure I'm disappointed, but it was a hell of a season. And I guess 82 regular season games followed by 20 more in the playoffs is a little too much to ask. Especially when you're putting yourselves in a hole to start the game every night. Simply put, the Devils outplayed the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist stood on his head, stole Game 3, and (aside from Game 5) was generally great as usual. Lundqvist can't score, however. That's the job of the Rangers' offense, which failed miserably. And it didn't help that they only decided to play well after the Devils had 2-0 leads. I still think the Rangers are the better team. But the Devils were the better team over the last two weeks. That's why they're in the Finals.
Out west, the LA Kings are that team you see every couple of years that comes out of nowhere and makes a deep playoff run. I'm still not really sure how the Kings have done it. But yet, they're 12-2 in this year's playoffs, and they beat all three division champions in the Western Conference, including two of the four best teams in the league during the regular season (Vancouver, the defending conference champion and this year's President's Trophy winner, and St. Louis). And it's simply remarkable that they haven't lost a road game in this year's playoffs. The Kings are 8-0 away from Staples Center in the postseason.
The Kings' success can be traced to two things. The first is Jonathan Quick. I said when the playoffs started that a hot goalie can take you a loooooooong way in the playoffs. The Canucks, Blues and Coyotes have found that out the hard way. If not for the play of Jonathan Quick, there's no way the Kings are here. But captain Dustin Brown's coming-out party was very well-timed, also. That LA offense has looked tremendous through three rounds. And Brown is suddenly playing like the captain of the Kings' 1993 Finals team (some guy named Gretzky, maybe you've heard of him). The combination of Brown and Quick have helped write a script worthy of a Hollywood screenplay so far this postseason. Because the Kings aren't this good.
I really have no idea how this series is going to play out. The Kings have had a ridiculous amount of rest this postseason, which has obviously seemed to work for them. They haven't had to fly coast-to-coast yet, though. And they didn't face a goalie anywhere near Martin Brodeur's caliber in the first three rounds. But they did beat the three best teams in the Western Conference. Even though the East was the tougher conference this season, that can't be ignored. Nor can that postseason road record, which is simply remarkable.
With all that being said, the Devils are the better team. Yes, they finished fourth in their division. But they played in the best division in hockey, and they vanquished two of those teams (the Flyers and Rangers) in the playoffs. After a shaky seven-game series against Florida, New Jersey has looked better with each round. However, how much of that had to do with the familiarity of playing two hated division opponents, who might be their two biggest rivals to boot?
For all the praise I've thrown Dustin Brown's way, Devils captain Zach Parise deserves a ton of credit for his team's postseason success, too. Of course, he'll always be remembered fondly for his goal in the waining seconds that sent the 2010 Olympic Gold Medal Game to overtime, but during these playoffs, Parise has proven even more so that he's a big game player. It was his late empty-net goals that sealed both Games 4 and 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. He and Travis Zajac have proven to be a scary combination, and let's not forget the Devils' best offensive player, Ilya Kovalchuk. Then there's that future Hall of Famer in goal, looking to have his name etched on the Cup one more time.
Your guess as to how this series will go is as good as mine. The Devils and Kings played twice this season, but both games were in October, so you can't take anything out of them. Brodeur didn't even play either time. As for my projection, I think the Devils manage to win at least one of their home games and slow this crazy Kings ride. Whichever goalie plays better, his team will probably win. I think that'll be Martin Brodeur. He rises to the occasion and gives Chris Christie a reason to be even more annoying. I'm going to say Devils in six.
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