You have to wonder if there was a single person in North America back in April before the playoffs began who had New Jersey winning the Eastern Conference and Los Angeles winning the West.

That's the thing that has so often intrigued us as hockey writers. The Stanley Cup playoffs always seem to produce the unexpected somewhere. It's far less predictable than other sports.

And there are definitely "years" when any team can win if it gets hot at the right moment. This was a year where it was wide open at the start and you've seen what happened.

Only in hockey can you get a story line that has a rookie named Adam Henrique scoring two, overtime series-winning goals.

"It was exciting," Henrique said of his overtime winner on Friday night that produced a 3-2 win against the Rangers to send the Devils to the Cup FInal.

"That was Johnny on the spot for that one, I guess. [Ilya] Kovalchuk and [Alexei] Ponikarovsky did a good job in front. I was sitting there.

"I couldn't see the puck. I knew it was down, and I was just praying it was going to come under his pad. It's a big one. It's one you dream about."

At the post-game presser, Henrique was asked this question:

Q. Adam, you're, what, 22? Now you have two overtime series-winning
goals. I'm just wondering if there's any part of you that is wondering:
Where do I go from here with my life?

His answer:

"Well, there's still more things to accomplish," Henrique said. "Try to take in as much as I can this whole year.

"And obviously those are two huge goals, and then probably two of the biggest goals ever scored. There's still more ahead. We're not done yet. We haven't really won anything."

Jonathan Quick has carried the LA Kings through these playoffs. Marty Brodeur hasn't looked as dominant but he hasn't looked like a 40-year-old goaltender, either and now has a chance to win his 4th Cup.

Sorta like Terry Bradshaw with 4 Super Bowl rings.

"He's been playing great for us," Zach Parise said. "He’s giving us a chance to win every game.

"And even when they put their pressure on and people get a little antsy and you've got a guy back there that's been through this all before and makes big saves at the right time, has the ability to calm a bench down. So that goes a long way for us.

"He’s been playing great for us. The numbers don't lie. And he's a
huge, huge reason why we're still playing."

Henrique took a bit farther.

"He's the reason why we're in the position we are. He was there for us all year. There’s a reason why he's the best goalie to play the game," he said.

"And he gives us that extra confidence every night when we got him back there. He's going to give us the chance to win no matter what, even if we're not playing our best. He
seems to make those big saves night in, night out, and he did it again ..."

Q

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