Devils must fire pucks at Quick
Asked about going head-to-head with the New Jersey Devils’ Martin Brodeur, Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick said, “I’m not looking to match him step for step. I’m not trying to score on him. He’s not trying to score on me. I’ll leave that to the forwards and ‘D.’ I’m trying to make saves and help my team win a game.”
That is exactly what Quick has done in these playoffs, make saves and help his team win games. When I watch Quick, it evokes visions of Dominik Hasek. They are unorthodox in their style but incredibly competent.
Quick’s 1.49 goals-against average and .946 save percentage are impressive to say the least. But if you are a member of the Devils, it is in your best interest to find a way to make him unimpressive.
There is nothing more common in the playoffs than losing teams singing the praises of an opposing goalie who has eliminated them. Successful teams find a way to solve the opposing goaltender.
Entering the 1999 playoffs, Hasek led the NHL with a .937 save percentage during the regular season. By the time our Dallas Stars were preparing to face the Buffalo Sabres and Hasek in the Final, we knew how good their goal-tending was.
The Stars had defeated Curtis Joseph, Grant Fuhr and Patrick Roy to reach the Final, and the task was not getting easier. But our mantra was: With Hasek stopping 94% of the shots, the quicker we got to 100 shots, the quicker we were going to get to six goals.
The Devils had 17 shots in Game 1. If they continue firing shots at that rate, they will get to 100 shots sometime in Game 6. That would give them five goals at that rate, and that simply isn’t going to win you four games. The only thing left on the day of what would have been Game 6 will be the confetti left over from the Kings’ parade.
The key for the Devils might come from special-assignment coach Jacques Caron and goaltending coach Chris Terreri and their ability to find the holes in Quick. In the playoffs, Bob Gainey used to say, “You can’t lionize the opposition or the opponents. They have flaws and weaknesses, and if you want to win, you have to know what they are and then work to take advantage of them.”
As the Final moves into Act 2, the Devils will need to get as many shots as possible directed toward the net and at Quick. New Jersey showed a great ability to succeed against the New York Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist and was able to solve that goal-tending mystery in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Devils have a new goal-tending mystery to solve in Quick, and if they don’t begin in Game 2, there will be no doubt as to “whodunit” when this series comes to its conclusion.