A trio of third period goals kept the New Jersey Devils alive in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Los Angeles Kings. The Devils used a strong finish to come out with a 3-1 win on Wednesday night in LA, sending the series back to New Jersey on Saturday night for a fifth game.
At In Lou We Trust, SB Nation's Devils blog, John Fischer notes some spotty play by both teams.
The Kings had the Devils' accuracy problems from Game 3 as they were credited for 23 misses - which boosted both numbers (the Devils got credited for only 10 misses). As you know, it's hard to score when you're skying the puck several feet over the net or pulling it way wide. The Devils were more efficient, but they clearly were out-attempted. That led to plenty of shifts where the Kings would get set-up on offense and put on some good pressure despite not getting much of anything out of it.
Questionable play aside, the Devils still managed to win. Now, they have to do it again. The recipe for that, as Fischer explains, is:
Again, the Devils didn't play that great of a game - they really need to get their offense to play more consistently and more with the puck. Some of the defensemen also need to shape up and fast; Brodeur covered up a lot of errors tonight. Most of all, it's just one win; the odds and history favor L.A. taking it all. However, they got the result in a good third period and at this point, any means of winning are acceptable. The Devils are still alive.
Game 5 is Saturday night in New Jersey at 8:30 p.m.
For more action from the Stanly Cup Finals, 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.