NJ Devils attempt to stay alive against LA Kings in Game 5 of Stanley Cup ... - New York Daily News

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Peter Harrold and Devils will push to position themselves within a game of Brad Richarson and the Kings on Saturday night.

The Devils know overcoming a 3-0 playoff series deficit is rare in all sports, not just hockey - but it’s not impossible.

“You know it” going to happen again, so why not us?” Devils coach Peter DeBoer said Friday after practice at the Rock, knowing only the 1942 Maple Leafs have ever accomplished the feat in the Stanley Cup Finals. “You’re not going to go 200 years without someone else doing it. It’s been long enough. It might as well be us."

The Devils host the Kings in Game 5 Saturday night after forcing L.A. to fly back cross-country with Wednesday’s 3-1 win in Game 4. The Kings are undefeated on the road this postseason and are looking for an NHL-record 11th road victory in a single playoff, which would clinch their franchise's first-ever championship.

But Martin Brodeur, New Jersey’s three-time Cup-winning goaltender, sees an opportunity for the Devils to reverse the series’ momentum following three goals in the third period of Game 4.

“Hopefully that big win, late in the third period, is something that for the (Kings), getting to be so close to it and not getting it in front of their fans, hopefully that will start something,” said Brodeur, who was “awesome” at Staples Center on Wednesday, according to Kings coach Darryl Sutter.

Sutter and the Kings are wary of New Jersey’s confidence because they know outside of the final scores, the games have been remarkably even.

“Really the series could be 2-2 or 1-3 (in favor of the Devils),” Sutter said. “There hasn’t been a gap in it . . . There’s not enough of a difference in the series.”

The Devils actually have stifled the Kings in allowing no more than 22 shots on goal in regulation of any of the four games. The only goal they allowed in Game 4 was a deflected Drew Doughty power-play slapper after a bogus boarding call against Devils forward David Clarkson.

L.A. hit two posts and had a couple of breakaway attempts, but New Jersey top pair defenseman Andy Greene admitted he saw improvements in the Devils’ already stingy defense.

“Maybe just a tad, a little bit better job of keeping them to the outside,” Greene said. “I think we really limited the second and third chances. Those are big factors.”

The biggest factor, then, is whether the Devils can continue to score. The expectations are greatest for the line of Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk, which has combined for just two points in the series â€" a Zajac assist on Kovalchuk's empty-netter on Wednesday. New Jersey has been outscored 9-4, not counting the empty-net.

So far, though, even in the lower-scoring affairs, Brodeur has kept the Devils close with his puck-handling and goaltending. As long as his team doesn’t slow down, the veteran is showing no signs of tiring, either.

In a humorous exchange after practice Friday, Brodeur was asked if winning Game 4 was a “point of personal pride, that if it was going to end, (he) didn't want it to end on that kind of note.”

“For sure, a little bit,” Brodeur said. “But it’s not gonna end. So that’s not that big of a deal.”

The reporter clarified: “I meant the season.”

“Oh, OK,” said Brodeur, the backbone of the franchise. “I thought you meant my career.”