Kopitar’s OT goal gives Kings 1-0 lead
Kings win ninth in a row on the road
NEWARK — Skilled Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar was strangely unproductive in the shootout this season — an embarrassing 1-for-9.
“(But) in-game breakaways are a lot different than shootouts,” Kings captain Dustin Brown said. “If I get one guy on a breakaway, I’m going to pick Kopitar.”
Kopitar showed why his linemate has unwavering faith in him as he turned a breakaway into a game-winning goal at 8:13 of overtime to give the Kings a 2-1 win Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The Kings are 15-2 in the postseason and have won an NHL-record nine consecutive road games. They have outscored their opponents 32-14 during that surge.
“Every time you get on the road, you need a team effort,” Kopitar said. “It showed again. We had four lines going, . . . six (defensemen), and Jonathan (Quick) was great at net.”
The game-winner resulted from Devils defenseman Marek Zidlicky getting caught pinching. Brown chipped the puck ahead, where it was claimed by Justin Williams. He made a blind pass into the offensive zone that Kopitar took in stride.
“I played with him a long time, and I felt he was there,” Williams said.
Kopitar waited out Martin Brodeur, forcing him to sprawl before moving around to score on the forehand for his seventh goal of the postseason.
“I thought he was going backhand,” Brodeur said. “He had so much time. . . . If I knew what he was thinking, it would be a lot easier.”
The win was huge for the Kings, because 74.6% of Game 1 winners have gone on to win the title.
Devils coach Peter DeBoer thought his team was tentative. “I think we’re going to have to find another level,” he said.
NEWARK — The New Jersey Devils must convince themselves that Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final will bear little resemblance to the rest of the series.
“That was a feel-out game for both clubs,” said Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, the victim of Anze Kopitar’s multiplefake, breakaway overtime goal.
“I thought we were a little nervous in the first period, but we settled in after that,” Brodeur said. “It was a chess match from there. I’m sure the Kings would tell you they were a little nervous, too.”
Maybe not so much from a team that has gotten quite comfortable pretty much anywhere, winning its ninth consecutive road game in these playoffs.
“We don’t care about the road numbers,” Kings center Jarret Stoll said. “It doesn’t matter if we are 3-0 or 40-0 on the road. It’s just about finding a way to win.”
Both teams were searching, and the Kings were nearly as tentative as the Devils in what became a test of who would break first under relentless forechecking, both teams’ standard formula for success.
Brodeur faced 25 shots in 68 minutes, but that was seven more than his teammates generated.
And the only Devil who actually put a puck behind Kings playoff hero Jonathan Quick was Zach Parise, who used his hand in a third-period goalmouth pileup, a deft maneuver that was detected by the officials and verified by replay.
The only New Jersey goal went in off Kings defenseman Slava Voynov, who was trying to keep Patrik Elias from converting a rebound of Anton Volchenkov’s shot from the left-wing boards late in the second period.
Still, that was enough to give the Devils a chance through a tied third period, when their forechecking began taking its toll on the Kings and created turnovers. The best chance came midway through the period when defenseman Mark Fayne, trailing an odd-man rush, pushed a rebound at the edge of the crease wide of the gaping net.
“It’s disappointing,” Brodeur said of a game that felt like a missed opportunity. “It was right within our reach.”
But passes and rebounds seemed endlessly just out of their reach all night.
“The ice was bad, we made turnovers, we panicked with the puck,” Brodeur said. “Guys were squeezing their sticks a little bit. It was a weird game, not good for hockey.”
Though Brodeur, who has won the Cup three times, confidently professed, “We’re fine,” the Kings’ road prowess just adds to the pressure building on the Devils. “This time of year, any loss is hard to take,” Brodeur said. “Slowly, your dream is shutting down.”
Which makes Game 2 Saturday in New Jersey how close to a must-win?
“Well, it would be nice,” Brodeur said.