Kings 1 win away from title
Jonathan Quick made 22 saves for his third shutout of the postseason, Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist, and the Kings rolled to the brink of the franchise’s first title, beating the Devils 4-0 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday in Los Angeles to take a 3-0 series lead.
Alec Martinez had the opening goal, and Jeff Carter and Justin Williams also scored for the Kings, who improved to 15-2 in the postseason and won the first three games for the fourth straight series — a first in NHL history.
Another win would make more history. Los Angeles would be the first eighth seed to win a Stanley Cup.
“Before the series, we felt like this could happen, but we didn’t think it would,” said defenseman Drew Doughty, who had an assist and has scored in every game of the Finals. “This was definitely our best game of the series. I thought they took it to us in the first period, but we got a lot better.”
The Devils dominated the game early with their relentless forecheck, but they couldn’t crack Quick, who turned in another excellent performance. He has allowed 24 goals in 17 playoff games and just two in the Finals.
Martinez scored his first career playoff goal early in the second period, and Kopitar followed about 10 minutes later with his third goal in four games off a spectacular pass from captain Dustin Brown.
Still, it looked as if it would be another tight one — the first two games were 2-1 overtime wins — until the third period, when the Kings finally got something from their power play, which had been their weakest feature during the postseason. The Kings were 6-for-78 on the man advantage before going 2-for-2 in the third.
It could get really loud Wednesday, when the team can clinch its first title. Game 4s have been a sticking point, though. The Kings are 1-2 in them in these playoffs.
After losing three straight Finals games for the first time in franchise history, the Devils must accomplish the fourth comeback from an 0-3 deficit in NHL playoff history to win their fourth title. Penguins get Vokoun: Pittsburgh acquired goaltender Tomas Vokoun from the Capitals for a seventh-round draft pick, then signed the pending unrestricted free agent to a two-year, $4 million contract.