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Adam Henrique's OT winner sends the Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals

May 26, 2012, 11:42 AM ET [50 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Adam Henrique made a name for himself in the National Hockey League with his regular season play, and his name has only gotten bigger and bigger as the playoffs have went on. He's scored arguably the two biggest goals of the New Jersey Devils post-season run, and for those, like myself, who have watched him play since his days with the Windsor Spitfires, it has been no surprise. Here are some notes on the game, and the goal, that sent the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2003.

- We have all become accustomed to Henrique making big plays when needed the most. It seems as though the bigger the game, the better he plays, and this goes back to his days with the Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League. He was a great player there, and played huge roles in the run that saw the Spitfires win back-to-back Memorial Cup titles.

Years later, he's doing the same thing at the biggest stage possible: the Stanley Cup playoffs. What he is doing is not normal, and all you need to do is look at the record books to see that. Henrique is the second player in NHL history to score two series winning goals in the playoffs, the other was Marty Gelinas, and he's the first rookie to do so. He also has broken Scott Gomez's record for most playoff points as a rookie by registering his 11th last night on the goal that sent the Devils to the Stanley Cup.

Henrique had an outstanding Junior hockey career, and early in his NHL career he's making his mark. All he does is come up big, and there's no reason to believe he won't continue to do so.



- I can't say enough about the Devils 4th line of Ryan Carter, Stephen Gionta and Steve Bernier. They have been great all throughout the playoffs, and they continuously score big goals night-in night-out despite playing around ten minutes, sometimes even less, per game. I'll admit, I knew they could be an effective 4th line, but I never expected anything like this. You could argue that the 4th line was the Devils best line, including defense pairings, throughout the series. If they can continue to produce like this against the Los Angeles Kings, there's no reason why they can't beat them.

- Though Ilya Kovalchuk made a couple of errors in his own zone that resulted in scoring chances for the Rangers, he was pretty solid last night. Kovalchuk had a goal, an assist and six shots in the Devils most important game of the year. They say great players come up big in big games...well, Kovalchuk did that for the Devils last night. He did it in Game 5, too. Now that I think about it, he's been on the ice for the Devils Game 5 and Game 6 winners. It's no coincidence, either.

- One of the Devils I'm happiest for: Zach Parise. The guy works his ass off every day and every night at the rink. He leads by example, plays the right way, and carries himself like a true professional. He's been asked about re-signing and the Devils financial situation all year, and he's said all the right things. He's a great player, and a better leader.

- Even at the age of 40, Martin Brodeur continues to win big games. He stopped 33-of-35 (.943 save percentage) last night and came up with big saves when the Devils needed him the most. All the guy does is win.

- The Devils have eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers from the playoffs three times in their history (including this year). The previous two times New Jersey won the Stanley Cup. Will history repeat itself again?

- I'd like to give some serious credit to the New York Rangers. What they accomplished in the regular season and playoffs is outstanding. They've relied on their young players such as Ryan McDonagh, Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan, etc. as much or more as their big guns, and they led them this far. The Rangers never quit, and with as much young talent as they have and the goaltender they have in their net, there's no reason to believe the Rangers can't make it to this point or passed it next year and in the future. They're building a great team in New York, and their time will come.



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