Saturday evening in Newark, Kings forward Jeff Carter beat Devils goalie Martin Brodeur at 13:32 of the first overtime period to give Los Angeles a 2-1 victory in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals. The Kings now lead the series 2-0, with Game 3 Monday at the Staples Center.
Your discussion points:
---- Los Angeles is 10-0 on the road in the playoffs. If they win Games 3 and 4 at home, they’ll finish the playoffs undefeated on the road. This is rather insane.
---- Let’s handicap the Devils’ chances of coming back and winning this series. Does 20/1 sound about right?
---- Jonathan Quick is the clear Conn Smythe Trophy favorite, but who’s the second favorite? It was Dustin Brown before the finals. Is it Drew Doughty now? That was a pretty nice goal he scored tonight.
--- Hopefully the Devils’ trainer knows how to do that thing Mr. Miyagi did with his hands, because Ilya Kovalchuk’s back looks like it’s hurting again.
---- Both Games 1 and 2 finished 2-1 in overtime, but can we all agree Game 2 was miles better from an entertainment perspective?
---- Fun fact No. 1: The last time Games 1 and 2 of the finals went to overtime was 1951 between Toronto and Montreal.
---- Fun fact No. 2: All five games went to OT in 1951, with the Leafs winning four of the five.
---- Devils fans were furious no penalty was given to Willie Mitchell for high-sticking David Clarkson in the second period. However, the league confirmed no penalty was warranted, as Mitchell was following through on his attempted shoot-in.
---- Neither team has scored a power-play goal in the finals. Not that the Kings care, but the Devils probably do.