Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings is just two days away. Months and months of hard fought hockey, tough practices and travel have led these two teams to where they want to be. Now it's time to execute when it matters the most. Yesterday I previewed the series from a statistical stand point. Today I'll do it by examining key factors.
Keys for Kings
Work Devils defense down low
The Kings have a lot of big bodied, physical forwards, especially on their 3rd and 4th lines. They need to get the puck in deep, and try to work the Devils defense core down low. The Devils defense isn't made up of big, physical players so the Kings bottom two lines could give them trouble. If not anything else, the Kings bottom six forwards could rough the Devils defense up a bit and tire them for when they have to go up against Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and company.
Stay out of the box
The Devils have a good powerplay in terms of percentage, and the players who they have on it. The Kings must stay disciplined. They've made it this far and it would be a shame for them to just throw the Cup away by taking stupid penalties. If the Kings don't stay disciplined, they'll be in trouble, regardless of how good their penalty kill has been to this point in the playoffs; Case and point below.
Throw the puck at Martin Brodeur's feet
Brodeur is, in my opinion, the best goaltender of all-time and he has done a great job throughout his career of making adjustments to his game to avoid being exploited by the opposition. One thing he hasn't been able to fix up as much as he would like is stopping pucks thrown at his feet. He's not a butterfly goaltender so when teams riffle pucks at him on the ice, it's very awkward for him. If the Kings are smart, they'll blast pucks at his feet and drive the net hard for the rebounds, because they will be there.
Keys for Devils
Stay disciplined
The Devils, for the most part, have done a great job throughout the playoffs of staying out of the box. They've made it this far by staying disciplined, and they can't afford to get away from that now. Though the Kings powerplay has been absolutely terrible in the playoffs, they have way too much talent to be kept off the board forever. If the Devils take a lot of penalties, they'll be burnt sooner or later.
Get traffic in front of Jonathan Quick
Quick, like Henrik Lundqvist, is a world class goaltender and you're not going to beat him without traffic in front. The Devils need to do what they did against the Rangers and send one or two forwards to the front of the net at all times. Bump Quick, make him think, and don't let him see. That's how you'll have success.
Improve penalty kill unit
The Devils set the NHL record for best penalty kill percentage during the regular season, and in the playoffs they have been nowhere close to as good as they were then. Taking penalties here and there is unavoidable, so the Devils PK unit must improve. They've shown positive signs at times throughout the playoffs, but they have not been near as consistent as they need to be. That must change, and quick.
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»