The 2012 Stanley Cup playoff culminate with the Final which begins tonight at 8 pm at the Prudential Center in Newark. The Devils will face-off with the Los Angeles Kings.
The teams took far different routes to arrive at this point. The Kings knocked off the #1, 2 and 3 seeds out west while the Devils defeated the #3, 5 and 1 seeds. The Kings sport a playoff record of 12-2 while the Devils arrive here with a 12-7 record. A lot of hockey writers and prognosticators look at the Kings haughty 12-2 mark thus far and think they are a shoo-in. In fact on the ESPN poll on this series ONLY The state of New Jersey thought the Devils would win. Every other state picked L.A.
Johnny remembers when Sidney Crosby and the Penguins showed up at Joe Louis Arena for game 1 of the 2008 Final after blasting through the Eastern Conference with a 12-2 mark. The Wings were 35 seconds away from dispatching the Pens in five games that year, instead closing them out in six. 12-2 means nothing.
Goaltending? That does matter and right now Mr. Quick with L.A. would have to get that checkbox next to his name. Nothing wrong with the way Brodeur is playing and maybe that's the key. He doesn't have to stand on his head to be successful but he can.
The Kings have big forwards, tree sized forwards on some lines. The Devils defense will have to manage that but this IS the Final and there is not another series to save yourself for. The Kings love that go-go forecheck game the same as New Jersey does. The Kings might be a little faster at it but it only matters whom can execute that forecheck better. We're going to call this even.
The Devils powerplay has a whole new aspect to worry about, shorthanded goals. The Kings have five of them this playoff run. They gutted Vancouver with shorthanded goals. Not only are the Devils going to have to get offense out of their powerplay but some defense as well.
We could go on and on and on about his matchup or that. There are several leading hockey websites who can do that with cool pictures and graphics and everything. If you want the bells and whistles head on out as Johnny will merely make a prediction using words.
The Devils are the underdogs according to the media and online fan polls but are they REALLY? Ask an expert like Johnny and you might get a different answer that they might give. Does Johnny want the Devils to win? Remember he's a Wings fan and this would give the Devils four cups along with Detroit in the very modern era. No plusses in picking the Devils for that. Does he think the Devils will win? Well friend he thinks it is a tossup. But he will lay this prediction on you:
Devils in Seven
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