With a 2-1 win on Saturday night, the Kings became just the 12th team in NHL history to win the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final on the road. Of those previous 11 teams, nine went on to win the Stanley Cup. I’m no math whiz, but those are pretty good odds.
1) Jeff Carter, Los Angeles Kings – With 6:18 remaining in the period, Carter scored his fifth goal of the postseason to send the Kings back to Los Angeles with a two game lead over the New Jersey Devils. With his goal, he also scored for the first time since dropping a hat trick on the Phoenix Coyotes. It was also just the third game in the postseason in which he scored a goal.
2) Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings – Jonathan Quick was, once again, brilliant on Saturday night, stopping 32 of 33 shots to lead the Kings to another 2-1 overtime victory. Quick was spectacular throughout the game, but was especially so in the first two periods, when he made 20 saves over the duration. His counterpart, Martin Brodeur, was equally as good in this goaltender’s duel, stopping 30 of 32 shots, including many spectacular saves.
3) Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings – Doughty had a spectacular game on Saturday, and it wasn’t just because of his beautiful goal. Doughty played 32:19, he had three hits, a blocked shot and three shots to go along with his end-to-end goal and he was a force in all three zones for Los Angeles.
Play of the Night
There’s really only one candidate for this category tonight, and that’s Drew Doughty’s end-to-end beauty.
Save of the Night
Eventually, the Kings might learn not to shoot glove hand high on Brodeur. Eventually. Until then, though, he’s making some nice glove saves.
Hit of the Night
In addition to his gorgeous goal, Drew Doughty also laid Zach Parise out with this beautiful hit.
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