The Los Angeles Kings were seemingly flawless Monday in their 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Devils now trail in the best-of-seven series 3-0, and are on the brink of elimination if they can't earn a win in Game 4 (8 p.m. Et on NBC).
However, the feeling for New Jersey Devils fans is that this series is basically over, and most of the credit needs to go to the Kings thinks the SB Nation blog In Lou We Trust:
Credit Where Credit is Due: I'd like to pre-congratulate the Los Angeles Kings. They've been a buzzsaw in these playoffs and tonight, they further showed that they are simply a high quality team. Quick was seemingly everywhere tonight. The defense allowed a lot of attempts but only a fraction got on target; holding the Devils to 22 was quite a feat. Their penalty kill has been the best in the playoffs and they had a brilliant performance tonight. The only thing they didn't do was score a shorthanded goal.
The Devils will need to earn three straight victories to force a Game 7, for this to happen the Devils need to be better on the special teams:
Before this series began, I had a feeling special teams could make a big difference in the Stanley Cup Finals. Well, they certainly did. I didn't expect the Kings going 2-for-2 in a single game. I certainly didn't expect the Devils to go 0-for-12 on the power play in the first three games and tonight's 0-for-6 performance was simply pathetic. If Game 2's power plays were embarrassing, then we need a new word for tonight's power plays.
The Stanly Cup Final resumes Wednesday, check back to this SB Nation New York Stanley Cup Finals StoryStream. You can find more entertaining reading on the SB Nation NHL Hub Page. For the Devils perspective, check In Lou We Trust. For the Kings perspective, visit Jewels From The Crown.