Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012: Game 1 Win Vital for Devils over Streaking Kings

The Los Angeles Kings barely made the NHL playoffs this season and actually lost more games than they won in the regular season (40-27-15), squeaking into the postseason as the Western Conference's eighth seed.

Someone apparently forgot to tell the Kings that, as the team jackstomped its way through the Western Conference playoffs en route to representing the West in the Stanley Cup Final. The Kings dispatched the West's top three seeds in only 14 games, going 12-2 over that stretch and outscoring the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes by a margin of 41-22.

The Kings rank third among the 16 playoff teams in goals scored per game and first in goals allowed, and this shocking tsunami of momentum is exactly why the New Jersey Devils need to take the first game when the teams begin the Stanley Cup Final Wednesday in Newark.

Granted, the Devils have also been on quite the little run of their own, especially after dispatching the Eastern Conference's top seed and their hated rivals in the New York Rangers in six games. However, the Devils run to the final has featured many more fits and starts than the Kings, including a grueling seven-game series against the Florida Panthers in the first round of the playoffs.

That makes it important that the Devils start off the series on the right foot (or skate, as the case may be), especially in their own building and in a series in which the two teams appear very equally matched from a statistical standpoint.

Although the Kings lead the Devils in most statistical categories, the margin is minimal. The Kings lead the Devils in goals for, shots on goal and shots allowed, but that lead is small enough that it appears insignificant.

In fact, even in categories where there is a large disparity those differences would appear to cancel one another out. For example, the Kings have struggled on the power play, ranking 15th out of the 16 playoff teams. However, as much as the Kings have struggled with a man advantage the Devils have been equally inept a man down, ranking 13th out of 16 teams at killing penalties.

Something has to give, and it may well be in the area where this Stanley Cup Final will be decided...between the pipes. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick has been absolutely outstanding in the postseason, allowing just over 1.5 goals per game.

New Jersey goaltender and future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur hasn't exactly stunk up the joint, but the 40-year-old has allowed half a goal per game more than Quick in the playoffs. The battle between the young gun and the old guard may well be the focal point that determines who hoists the Stanley Cup.

The fact that either of these teams advanced to the finals is somewhat surprising, The fact that the Kings did so with such ease is absolutely astonishing. Taking that into consideration, it's more important for the Devils to draw first blood, because if the Kings get out to an early lead this could be a short series if the past few weeks are any indication.

It doesn't really matter how they do it, whether it's with the offense of Ilya Kovalchuk or with the goaltending of Martin Brodeur. On Wednesday, the New Jersey Devils need to do something that no team has been able to do up to this point in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs: Win against the Kings at home.

The Devils need to show the Kings that they're no pest from the West. They're a beast from the East, and it's time for a slugfest.