Jeff Carter #77 of the Los Angeles Kings fights for position against Dainius Zubrus #8 of the New Jersey Devils during Game One of the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the Prudential Center on May 30, 2012 in Newark, New Jersey.
(May 29, 2012 – Source: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images North America)
(PhatzRadio / USA Today) — NEWARK – As the New Jersey Devils watched video of what went wrong for them in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, it played like a rerun.
“When I look back at our playoff trail,” Devils coach Peter DeBoer said, “one of the areas that has cropped up in every round is that we have been a little tenative in the first game, kind of (feeling) our way, and then jumped in with both feet.”
As the Devils look ahead toward Saturday’s Game 2 in the Prudential Center (8 p.m. ET, NBC), their mission will be to play more with an open throttle and to establish a more effective forecheck, although DeBoer said fixing the forecheck can be a complicated endeavor.
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“You want a nice boxed answer on how to fix it,” DeBoer said. “But it is not that easy. The game starts in your own end, breaking out clean, getting through the neutral zone with speed, putting the puck in the right place, running good forecheck routes, keeping pucks alive with pinches.”
Fixing the forecheck can be as complicated than figuring out how to pay down the national debt, especially against a team that is now 13-2 in the post-season with nine consecutive road wins.
The lack of an effective forecheck played a role in the Devils producing 17 shots on goal in a game decided in overtime. “There’s no clean answer to it,” DeBoer said. “We’ve got to be a little sharper in all areas.”
The Kings have won the first game in all four of their series. “You get that first one and your confidence builds,” Kings winger Jeff Carter said.
In their quick march to reach the league championship series, the Kings believe they found their killer instinct.
“It’s about finding ways to win,” said goalie Jonathan Quick
The good news for the Devils is that they have lost Game 1, and then won Game 2 in their last two series. They were down 2-1 and 3-2 in the series in the opening round against Florida and still found a way to win.
“We’ve been tested throughout these playoffs,” said New Jersey forward Ryan Carter. “We have a lot of confidence in this locker room and I think that will hopefully show in the next game.”
Devils center Travis Zajac said the key for Game 2 is to chip the puck past the Kings’ defense.
“They have back pressure all the time from their forwards,” he said. “We have get pucks behind them, and then go to work.”
Zajac said the Devils were “watching a little bit” in Game 1, trying to see what the Kings were doing when they needed to concentrate on their own games. “We didn’t win enough battles to keep pucks alive,” Zajac said.
The Kings say they plan to play better, and they expect the Devils to do likewise in Game 2.
Said Kings coach Darryl Sutter: “I think we know our opponent is a lot tougher than anyone we played yet.”
