Game 6-Kings Are Kings

Steve Bernier is the biggest goat in hockey right now, as his first period boarding major made the Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champions, as they scored 3 goals on the ensuing powerplay, and went on to beat New Jersey  6-1 . 

L.A. goals were scored by Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter (2), and Trevor Lewis with a three-goal hat trick. Adam Henrique scored for New Jersey.

Game 5-See Ya In L.A.

This is the 13th Stanley Cup Final that I have covered in one form or another, and they all have their own rhythms. This one has been, in one way, just what I expected, low-scoring, defensive hockey, after all, that is what got the Devils and Kings here in the first place. But at the same time, this final is developing a streaky nature that is very unusual, with the Kings winning the first three, two in OT, and now the Devils winning the last two, sending the series back to L.A. for game six Monday Night.

Zach Parise led off the scoring for New Jersey at 12:45 of the first, when he slammed the puck into the net on a power-play goal. The only other scoring occurred into the second when Justin Williams tied the score, then Bryce Savador put the Devils ahead to stay, when he scored at 9:05 from Alexi Ponikarovsky and Travis Zajac. There was no further scoring, and one wonders: this is the 70th anniversary of the Red Wing collapse of 1942, could history repeat itself? 

Game 4-See Ya Saturday

Hockey Night In Canada's Andi Petrillo tweeted that the Devils have never been swept in the playoffs. That has not changed, as the Devils defeated the Kings 3-1 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, as Adam Henrique and Patrik Elias blew open a 1-1 tie. As far as the run of play goes, nothing has changed, as these teams continue to play as tight-checking a style as I expected. Game 5 is Saturday in Newark.

Game 3-The Devils seem to have no answer

At the beginning of this series, a common question was: Could the Devils handle the aggressive style of the Kings? It seems apparent that they cannot. The Kings had 50 hits tonight, and the Devils seem to have no answer for that, and they had better find one in the next 48 hours, or there will be a parade in Hollywood thursday or friday. Grapes said that a save by Quick when the game was scoreless changed everything. Brodeur will undoubtedly complain about the first goal, that he believed should not have counted, since he felt he had the puck. Iliya Kovalchuk looks absolutely lost out there, and has to get going, or the Devils will be done Wednesday.

Game 2-Game 1 Redux

I basically could re-write my blog report from Game 1, and many readers would not know the difference, as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils by the same 2-1 score in game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, as they did in game 1, on a goal by Jeff Carter at 13:42 of OT. These games have basically been the same tight-checking hockey that I expected going into this series, and I don't expect anything to change as the series moves to LA for games 3 and 4 Monday and Wednesday. If the Devils don't do anything to change this series, it might be over before the weekend. Then again, the way the Kings have played much better on the road, than at home, the Devils might have the Kings right where they want them.

BREAKING NEWS: TIM THOMAS TO TAKE SABBTICAL

Bruins' goalie Tim Thomas announced on his facebook page as this report was going to press, that he is taking the 2012-13 season off for a "sabbatical", in order to spend time with his family. He denies that the sabbatical is a prelude to retirement, or a political run (Thomas is a conservative Republican, who skipped the team's white house visit to President Obama in protest of his policies) , but with Thomas being 38, and possible labor trouble in the NHL this fall, who knows?