Stanley Cup Finals: New Jersey Devils vs. Los Angeles Kings

[JKidd]

Records:
New Jersey: 48-28-6 (102 points) Home: 24-13-4 Away: 24-15-2
Los Angeles: 40-27-15 (95 points) Home: 22-14-5 Away: 18-13-10

How They Got Here:
-Devils-
Eliminated the #3 seed Florida Panthers in 7 games
Eliminated the #5 seed Philadelphia Flyers in 5 games
Eliminated the #1 seed New York Rangers in 6 games

-Kings-
Eliminated the #1 seed Vancouver Canucks in 5 games,
Eliminated the #2 seed St. Louis Blues in 4 games
Eliminated the #3 seed Phoenix Coyotes in 5 games

Head to Head:
Oct 13th: Devils 2 / Kings 1 OT
Oct 25th: Devils 3 / Kings 0

Devils won season series 2-0

Fights:
None

Lineup:
Goaltending: Edge Los Angeles
Scoring: Edge Los Angeles
Defense: Edge Los Angeles
Coaching: Draw
Grit: Win Los Angeles

Schedule:
Wed, May 30th in New Jersey, 8:00PM ET
Sat, June 2nd in New Jersey, 8:00PM ET
Mon, June 4th in Los Angeles, 8:00PM ET
Wed, June 6th in Los Angeles, 8:00PM ET
*Sat, June 9th in New Jersey, 8:00PM ET
*Mon, June 11th in Los Angeles, 8:00PM ET
*Wed, June 13th in New Jersey, 8:00PM ET

Prediction:
The playoff, living legend in Marty Brodeur against one of the best (if not the best) young goalie in the world today in Jonathon Quick, what a matchup! There are a few key points to this series, the first being the PK. The Devils PK is operating at below 75% in the post season, while the Kings PK is operating above 90%. Second point to watch will be how the Devils react to the avalanche of big forecheckers coming at them from the Kings. If the cycle game of the Kings, especially coming off the half-wall, gets going, it's going to make for great offensive chances. The Devils, for their part will need to keep turnovers to a minimum and not take penalties in trying to interrupt the cycle of the Kings. On the flip side, the Devils will need to figure out how to get the puck into the zone because the Kings won't be nearly as passive as previous opponents who were content with giving up the blue line to block shots. This very well could come down to the battle of which 4th line leads each team, and which star players show up at the most opportune times to lead their club. With that being said, I'm going to take the Kings in all 7 games.

[Orr=God]

Kings in 6 or 7

[Janssen25]

As usual, the Devils won't get much credit and will be severely under estimated going into this series. All I've heard about is the Kings size, forecheck, and goalie and how the Devils are going to deal with all that. News flash, the Devils have a pretty decent forecheck too and just wore down one of the best defensive teams in the league and eliminated a Vezina and Hart Trophy finalist.

If the Kings or anyone thinks they're are going to roll through the Devils easily, they're in for a rude awakening. This will be a hard fought series with both teams playing a very similar style game. Special teams will be a huge factor. The Devils PP has been improving all playoffs and has been a solid weapon for them. It will be interesting to see how the Kings and their 90% PK rate do against the Devils PP. On the flip side, the Kings PP has been brutal and the Devils PK has looked terrible against Fla, excellent against Philly's top rated PP and average against the Rangers.

As a Devils fan I am confident the Devils will find a way to pull this series out as they've showed a great amount of resiliency throughout this playoff season.

It will also be interesting to see how the Kings respond to any adversity as they've had a pretty smooth ride to the Finals.

Looking forward to a great series.

[bruiser11]

I think the 2 teams match up well.

[brymaster1]

A little surprised by the difference in votes, but I'm going with Kings in 6.

[thepolishkid88]

Call me crazy but I've read this script before. Its called the Penguins of 2008. I think the Kings come up a game or two short and the difference will be in net.

Just want to say both teams were facing LONG odds to be here by the end of the season. For both to get this far is amazing. Lou making us look foolish again and Dean Lombardi pushed all the right buttons. Just hope this helps develop hockey into the sport in California.

As far as the series I think Marty out duels Quick and that is the difference in the series. Devils in 6.

[NickDoh]

Kings.

Simply have to outshoot the Devils and it'll be easy. And if they don't it'll go longer but they can still get it done.

[sheady]

I want the kings to win, but think the devils will take it in 6

[HordiBrusk29]

Kings in 6.

[R.Middleton]

Kings

[pesadillamal]

Kings in five. They have just been cruising through some tough teams and seem to be on a mission right now. I agree that it will be interesting to see what happens if they find themselves down in the series since things have gone so well for them. Richards has been through it all and I think he will help a lot if that happens, so I think the Kings will still win it if the series goes long. Though the Devils are very good at ignoring physical play, the Kings should really push the envelope there and see if they could get the Devils agitated. Kovalchuk should be targeted with borderline plays to see if he will lose it.

[hazard5]

Originally Posted by pesadillamal

Though the Devils are very good at ignoring physical play,

The Devils outhit Florida in their series.
Then they outhit the Flyers.
Against the Rangers it was better to just skate circles around their roster of scrubs.

So it will be interesting to see what tactic they use against the Kings.

[NJDevils17]

Bring on the haters!

Jersey in 6!

[pesadillamal]

Originally Posted by hazard5

The Devils outhit Florida in their series.
Then they outhit the Flyers.
Against the Rangers it was better to just skate circles around their roster of scrubs.

So it will be interesting to see what tactic they use against the Kings.

Keep the stupid Ranger comments out of this. I doubt that thread got closed so that we could continue our stupidity here.

The Panthers are even softer than the Devils, no surprise there. Though Gudbranson was looking for a scrap the whole series.

Lavi dressed a charmin lineup until game 5. The Flyers owned that game physically but that hasn't deterred the Devils so far and they finished the Flyers out. I would be interested to see that series if Lavi goes the physical route. Maybe devils sweep, I don't know. You say they outhit the Flyers but I would like some numbers there. Probably real close.

The Kings should be able to dominate the Devils physically.

[nyislesfan45]

Dustin Brown has managed to get the opposition off their games very well, if he keeps playing his game and steamrolling everyone, it would force the Devils hand to play more physical. I know Kovy has a mean streak, Brown is playing like the guy that can bring that out.

Tough series to call, Quick has been incredible so far and if he were to keep it up, it would be a major boost to the Kings. On the other hand, the Devils just owned a Rangers team with Lundy in net so anythings possible.