Last night's game was as much of a do or die game, without being an elimination game, as you're going to find, and once again the New Jersey Devils couldn't solve Jonathan Quick and his Los Angeles Kings. For that reason, the Kings now lead the series 3-0 and are one game away from winning their first Stanley Cup in team history.
Here are some notes on last night's game, and what the Devils have to do if they have any hope of coming back, or even extending the series.
- I expect you'll see a much different Devils team tomorrow than the one we saw Monday night against the Kings. New Jersey will make some changes, whether it's personal wise or changing their style, and they will be better. If they're not much better, the Kings will be lifting the Stanley Cup tomorrow night in Los Angeles.
- I think New Jersey should make a personal change and a style change. First off, I'd put Adam Larsson or perhaps even Henrik Tallinder in for Peter Harrold. I'm not knocking Harrold, but I think a change could be good there. Secondly, the Devils need to drive the net like there's no tomorrow, because for them there might not be a tomorrow. Quick has shown a few times in this series that he doesn't like people in his kitchen, so the Devils need to put all kinds of people in it. If they can knock Quick off his game, they'll have a much easier time putting pucks past him. Some traffic would help, too.
- It's extremely unlikely the Devils will come back from 3-0 down, but there is still a chance. Not a good chance, but it's there. If the Devils take it shift by shift and get more production from their top players, they are more than capable of winning at least a couple of games. It won't be easy. It's not supposed to be, but the Devils overcame a lot of adversity to get to this point. This is their toughest task yet, no doubt, but they put themselves in this hole. Let's see if they can dig out of it.
- One player you can't blame at all for the Devils lack of success in the Final: Martin Brodeur. He has been good in every game and has made several big stops to keep the Devils in it each game, but the Devils just haven't given him any offensive support. If he continues to play this way and the Devils top players can produce anything tomorrow, they should be okay.
- People can point the finger at Ilya Kovalchuk for not producing as much as they want, but he's playing with a herniated disc and the onus shouldn't be all on him. Zach Parise is believed to be fully healthy. What has he done offensively in this series? How about Travis Zajac? David Clarkson? Adam Henrique? Same thing for all of them. Goose eggs across the board. They've been working hard and creating some chances, but that doesn't matter. Capitalizing on those chances is all that matters, especially when you're in the Stanley Cup Final.
- Credit to the Kings defense and Quick in this series. The Kings defense core have done a great job of limiting the Devils chances, and when the Devils have had them Quick has consistently came up with big saves. It's quite something.
- The Kings deserve all the credit they're getting and more for what they've done throughout the playoffs and so far in this series, but to see people slamming the Devils the way they have been is ridiculous. The Kings don't have a 3-0 series lead because the Devils suck, they have a 3-0 series lead because they've been playing great hockey. People need to realize that and give the Devils some credit. What they've been able to accomplish this year and in the playoffs, especially after last season, is remarkable. Give them the respect they deserve.
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