National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
New Jersey 2, Los Angeles 1
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, June 9, 2012
Where: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Referees: Dan O'Halloran, Brad Watson
Linesmen: Derek Amell, Jonny Murray
Attendance: 17625

DEVILS 2, KINGS 1: Martin Brodeur turned aside 25 shots as host New Jersey edged Los Angeles to send the Stanley Cup finals to a sixth game.

Brodeur earned his 113th career postseason victory with one of his best performances of the playoffs, helping the Devils trim the deficit in the best-of-seven to 3-2. It was the first road loss of the postseason for the Kings, who can still finish off their first Stanley Cup title in franchise history with a home win Monday night.

Sloppy stickhandling by Quick led to the game's opening goal at 12:45. With the Devils enjoying a power play, Quick's pass off the end boards ended up on the stick of Zach Parise, who beat Quick to the Los Angeles net and jammed the puck in past the goaltender's left skate.

It was the first goal of the series for Parise, and the first man-advantage tally by the Devils in the entire Stanley Cup finals.

Justin Williams evened things at 3:26 of the middle frame, gathering the puck in the neutral zone before creating some space between the circles and firing a wrist shot past New Jersey netminder Martin Brodeur on the blocker side.

New Jersey jumped back in front at 9:05. Following extended pressure in the Los Angeles zone, Bryce Salvador corraled a cross-ice pass at the blue line and sent a wrist shot toward the goal that redirected off Kings defenseman Slava Voynov and past a fooled Quick.

The Kings appeared to have tied the game moments later, but Jarrett Stoll's conversion of a Jeff Carter rebound was knocked in by a high stick.

Quick kept his team in the game early in the third period, snaring an Ilya Kovalchuk shot headed for the top corner.

Brodeur was stalwart himself, keeping the Devils in front with a stop on a Williams redirection from point-blank range with 2:42 to go. The Kings pulled the netminder in the final minute but couldn't solve Brodeur, who handed the Kings their first back-to-back defeats of the postseason.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Quick made 17 saves in defeat. ... The Devils lost D Anton Volchenkov after he was hit in the face by the follow-through of a Mike Richards shot late in the second period. He returned in the third with a bloody row of stitches across the middle of his face. ... The Devils improved to 8-0 when leading after two periods in the postseason. ... Brodeur was roughed up in the third period during a goalmouth fracas that resulted in him losing his mask and having his jersey pulled up over his head.
Top Game Performances
 
Los Angeles   New Jersey
Justin Williams 1 Points Zach Parise 1
Justin Williams 1 Goals Zach Parise 1
Matt Greene 1 Assists Alexei Ponikarovsky 1
N/A Power Play Goals Zach Parise 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jonathan Quick .895 Save Percentage Martin Brodeur .962
Jonathan Quick 17 Saves Martin Brodeur 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Los Angeles 26 1 0-2 1-2 6 25
New Jersey 19 2 1-2 2-2 6 28
Upcoming Games
  • New Jersey will play their next game on the road against Los Angeles. The Devils have a W/L % of .604 after a win and .559 after a loss.
  • Los Angeles will play their next game at home against New Jersey. The Kings have a W/L % of .425 after a win and .548 after a loss.