The New Jersey Devils didn’t hold the lead for a single moment in the first three games of the Stanley Cup finals, a trend continued until 7:56 of the third period when the Devils scored the first goal of the game.
That lead lasted a whopping 62 seconds, but the Devils proved resilient by earning a 3-1 victory to force a Game 5.
Here are some interesting facts to chew on:
-- This has truly been the year of the road team. The visitors now have a 47-37 record in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the most road wins ever recorded in a single year of playoff hockey. The old record of 46 wins was set back in 1987.
-- The New Jersey Devils are still looking for their first power-play goal of the Stanley Cup finals. They’re now 0-for-15 with the man advantage.
-- With his empty-netter, Ilya Kovalchuk is now tied with Anze Kopitar, Claude Giroux, and Danny Briere for the league lead in playoff goals (eight).
-- If the Los Angeles Kings win Game 5, they’ll set a record for the most road victories in a single playoff run. Their current total of 10 has them in a tie with the 2004 Calgary Flames, 2000 New Jersey Devils, and 1995 Devils.
-- The last team to win the Stanley Cup at home was the 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks.
-- The Devils are just the sixth team to win Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals after dropping the first three games.