In the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals against the Kings, the Devils have played 141 minutes, 55 seconds of hockey. They have never led. They have scored two goals, and only one of those came off a Devils stick. (The other was a rebound that deflected into the net off a Kings defenseman.) Most importantly, they have lost a pair of 2-1 overtime games, including Saturday's disappointing affair that puts them down two games to none ahead of Monday's Game 3 in Los Angeles. This is the first time since 1951 that the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals have gone to overtime.
Saturday's game-winner came not on a breakaway, but it hurt just as badly when Martin Brodeur was beaten by Jeff Carter's wrist shot at the 13:42 mark of overtime. The Devils have played from behind in this series after never trailing in the final three games of their Eastern Conference finals win against the Rangers. Through two games, the Kings have proven to be a different animal. As they did in Game 1, they scored in the first period Saturday. Drew Doughty weaved his way from his own zone through the entire Devils team before putting his team up 1-0. The Devils didn't answer until almost three minutes had gone by in the third period. Bill Carter deflected a Marek Zidlicky shot into the net in yet another fourth-line success story. (Of course, the fourth line was on the ice during both Kings goals, so call that a wash at best.)
The Devils had their chances to win the game, and they probably outplayed the Kings. In the final minute of regulation, Ilya Kovalchuck hit the crossbar. Despite being outshot, 11-3, in overtime, the Devils had opportunities against Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. But scoring is important, and the Devils just haven't done enough of it so far in this series against a team that still hasn't lost on the road in the playoffs. They created more scoring opportunities than they did in Game 1, but they're running out of chances to make this a series.
