Kings Take Game One

Going into game one of the Stanley Cup Finals one concern was would a long lay off hurt the Los Angeles Kings?

Los Angeles came into the finals with a 12-2 record and have looked more like a dominant number one seed instead of a number eight seed that clinched a playoff spot on the last weekend of the season.

However the Kings hadn't played since eliminating Phoenix eight days ago. There was speculation that the layoff could kill any momentum Los Angeles had.

Judging by the first 30 minutes of game one New Jersey looked like the team that hadn't played in eight days.

The Kings forecheck controlled the tempo of the game from the start with Colin Fraser getting the first goal, giving Los Angeles a 1-0 lead.

Through two periods the Devils only mustered eight shots on goal and were lucky to only be trailing 1-0. New Jersey needed a spark and they finally got one late in the 2nd period when Zach Parise got tangled up with goaltender Jonathan Quick in the Kings net.

While nothing came of the incident it did seem to wake up the Devils as Anton Volchenkov scored to tie the game at one going into the 2nd intermission.

From the start of the 3rd it looked like a totally different game than it did through the first two periods.

Los Angeles was playing like "We are the better team here. Let's put these guys away." while New Jersey started playing like "We have been outplayed for two periods and yet we have a chance to win this game."

Both teams had their chances in the 3rd to take the lead. At the ten minute mark New Jersey defenseman Mark Fayne had a wide open net to shoot at only to have the shot go wide.

I now know why he is a defenseman and not a forward.

The best chance for Los Angeles came three minutes later when Dustin Penner and Drew Doughty had an opportunity to score only to have Martin Brodeur stack the pads, denying the Kings the lead.

Game one would go to overtime and it would only take eight minutes before Anze Kopitar would win it for the Kings.

That breakaway was a thing of beauty.

The win gives Los Angeles a record of 9-0 on the road. More importantly the Kings are only three wins away from their first Stanley Cup.

As for New Jersey I'm not ready to write them off yet. Their game wasn't as sharp last night as it was in the previous round. Despite that the Devils had a chance to steal game one. With game two not until Saturday New Jersey will have some time to make whatever adjustments they need.

I expect the Devils to be much better on Saturday and even the series. If they aren't this could be done in four games.