How Los Angeles Kings can win against New Jersey Devils -NHL Playoffs Special
Los Angeles Kings have certainly come a long, long way as they hope to become the first eighth seeded team in National Hockey League (NHL) Playoffs history to take home the Stanley Cup this year.
Kings now, might be termed to be the favourites going into the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals against New Jersey but when it comes to upsetting predictions, Devils and Martin Brodeur come out on top.
Devils have been termed to be the underdogs in basically every series since they kicked it off with the heated Florida Panthers back in the quarterfinals, but Los Angeles Kings also have a lot of heart and soul which should be enough to pull them through.
Los Angeles Kings came out strong against 2011 Stanley Cup finalists, Vancouver Canucks, and eliminated them in just five games. Kings were even stronger against second seeded St. Louis Blues and ousted them in a clean four-game sweep. Los Angeles wowed
the league by thrashing Phoenix Coyotes and killing them in five to now go up against New Jersey Devils.
Here are some ways that Los Angeles Kings can win against New Jersey Devils in the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Finals.
Train Early
Los Angeles has been out of playing for quite a while now as they eliminated Phoenix Coyotes early on while New Jersey went into six games with New York Rangers.
Like New Jersey was taunted as being too rusty going into their series with Rangers after a quick elimination of the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles will be targeted for that same factor.
Training early is definitely a need of the moment and no rest should be taken in that regard since Game 1 of the Finals will kick off on Wednesday, May 30, 2012.
Jonathan Quick
Jonathan Quick is Los Angeles’ Martin Brodeur and if he is not playing top notch than Kings have no chance at all of winning. Unlike Phoenix Coyotes, the Devils have a strong offensive line-up, which could pose a threat to Quick.
Kings’ defenders need to pace themselves and limit Devils opportunities on their own net as much as possible to keep Quick’s engine running at optimal speed instead of being overworked.
"I think that's an exciting matchup for Quickie," Kings’ captain, Dustin Brown, said. "Given the year that he's had, to have a Hall of Famer at the other end compete against us is exciting because that's probably the one position, one-on-one, that you kind
of have a matchup."
Los Angeles had it easy against Phoenix as they managed to find a way to penetrate the Coyotes defensive mechanisms, but doing that against Devils will definitely not be as easy as they hold a whole different strategy on the defence.
Capitalising on Power Plays
Los Angeles has barely any power play goals on over 50 opportunities throughout the playoffs thus far and a number of them were against Phoenix as well. Kings are already one of the best teams when it comes to killing the added man advantage but grabbing
goals on their own is the need for the moment.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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