LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils will lace
Photo by Jack Lima
They gave life and hope to the Devils and their faithful heading east.
Game four was not the classic anyone had anticipated. Play was choppy and halting throughout the contest and neither team built any real flow.
In fact, the game was scoreless through two periods and it was until Patrik Elias backhanded a rebound past Jonathan Quick that anything of important transpired in the match.
For Devils head coach Peter DeBoer, one can change the mindset of a team.
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“ Yeah, that’s the tough part, but I really believe it’s easy. We know every time we can win a game and chip away, that goal gets a little closer. I know it’s a cliché, but I think we win Saturday night, the series maybe takes a turn,” DeBoer said Thursday.
More importantly for DeBoer it is about knowing that the team can win in this series.
“ We needed a win. We needed to get some momentum. We haven’t been able to establish any momentum these three games. Like I said, I didn’t like our Game 1, the way we played, but I thought Game 2 and 3 we played some solid hockey games,” DeBoer recounted. “And I thought we were good enough to win any of those three games. We couldn’t grab any momentum. We couldn’t get a first goal. We couldn’t get an overtime
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For Kings head coach Darryl Sutter not much really changes for game five.
“ Continue to play the way we’re playing. That’s why you play series. Unfortunately, we have some spoiled people that think that everyone wins 16 in a row or something,” Sutter said yesterday.
“A little confusing to me.”
Kings forward Jeff Carter was somewhat matter-of-fact in his assessment of game four and heading to game five this weekend.
“Obviously a little disappointing. Would have liked to have got a win on home ice. But we’ve got to move on from that. Think about it last night, move on, get ready for Saturday,” Carter said.
For Trevor Lewis the evaluation of game four was similar to his coach’s.
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“Oh, I think we definitely had our chances to win the game, but we knew they were going to come out hard. They did a good job at that,” Lewis added. “We got to refocus and prepare for Game five.”
For Justin Williams of the Kings it was more about giving credit to the Devils and their efforts in the match.
“Elimination games, I don’t know, the teams you play against are there for a reason. It’s not supposed to be a sweep all the time. You’re not supposed to win every game,” Williams said. “That’s when their character comes out, when their backs are against the wall. They played a great game, battled hard. We just didn’t quite have enough.”
All series the Kings have had quicker sticks in every scrum and entanglement along the boards. On Wednesday night that was not the case. And it was not an issue of the Devils being faster, just the Kings not being energized.
Photo by Jack Lima
The forecheck worked I the neutral zone but the Devils were able to break it in their defensive zone with some ease.
In the Kings’ defensive zone, there was little flow because of the work between the blue lines. But Elias got behind the defense for the opening goal and Quick was beaten badly on the Adam Henrique game-winning goal later in the third.
The Kings were a bit snake bitten as well Wednesday when two pucks struck iron and an errant Martin Brodeur clearing attempt was deflected just wide of the cage to the right.
Game five is set for Saturday and the New Jersey fans will be in full voice to support the Devils.
Contact Lou.Lafrado@prohockeynews
Photographer Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
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