Aside from winning the Stanley Cup in overtime, few highs in hockey can equate with the Devils' clinching a berth in the finals on Friday night with an extra-session strike. But in Wednesday's Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals against the Los Angeles Kings, the Devils had to swallow an overtime loss. After their offense disappeared for large stretches -- and also had several dominant spurts -- the Devils fell, 2-1, when Anze Kopitar scored on a breakaway with 8:13 to go.
The Kings drew first blood when Colin Fraser scored at the midway mark of the first period. That was a shot that Devils goalie Martin Brodeur probably would like back. Anton Volchenkov tied it -- he was the last Devil to touch the puck before Kings goalie Jonathan Quick let in the rebound off a deflection from a Kings defenseman.
Los Angeles had controlled the run of play through much of the second period (the Devils didn't shoot the puck for the first 13 minutes of the session. They had only eight shots through the first two periods. Those mid-game naps worked fine against the Rangers when the Devils had multi-goal leads to work with, but they're more frustrating when the Devils need a goal. The team woke up for stretches but couldn't score again. The Kings, the Western Conference's No. 8 seed, still have not lost on the road in the playoffs.
Game 2 is Saturday in Newark.
