Some quick thoughts from the NHL on TSN panel on Saturday night.
Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick did not play a bad game Saturday night by any stretch of the imagination, and he's only given up six goals in five games in the Stanley Cup Final.
Unfortunately for Quick and the Kings, there was a 20 minute stretch at the beginning of Game 5 when the netminder wasn't on top of his game. Just as he was a little bit better than Martin Brodeur at the start of the series, that situation has reversed in the last two games.
There were a few incidences and near misses on plays that Quick misjudged in the first, and the biggest one was obviously the misplay on the goal scored by Zach Parise; the critical first goal of the game.
Early in the second period he found his groove, and really didn't have a chance on the eventual game-winner scored by Bryce Salvador.
Quick made a bunch of big saves in the game, but those first 20 minutes of unsure play opened the door just enough for the Devils who did what head coach Pete DeBoer wanted them to do: score the first goal and build momentum.
Devils pay shot-blocking price
The Kings generated a lot of offence on Saturday, including 26 shots on goal, but they had another 20 that were blocked by the Devils.
The Devils did a great job on that front, including late in the second period, when the Kings were on a power play and Drew Doughty was on the point. Try as he might, Doughty's numerous attempts at getting the puck on net were thwarted by the Devils' penalty killers.
Fast forward to the final minute of the game, and Travis Zajac did a great job of getting the way of another shot.
The Kings also had 14 missed shots. Some of those shots include pucks that went off the posts, but posts aside, another reason why you miss shots sometimes is your opponent is getting into your lanes, forcing a change to the angle of the shots.
I thought that the Devils willingness to pay the price really stood out.