If the Stanley Cup final goes according to plan, we’re in for a really nice match-up between to teams with completely different styles. The Los Angeles Kings are making light work of the Phoenix Coyotes in the west by pounding goaltender Mike Smith in each of the first two games.
In the east, the New York Rangers have locked down the New Jersey Devils with an air-tight defense that has made goaltender Henrik Lundqvist’s job easy. Lundqvist, favored by Bovada’s NHL Awards Betting Lines to win the Vezina Trophy, only faced 21 shots in Game 1, turning away all of them. He got plenty of help from his defense which blocked another 26 of New Jersey’s shots on Monday.
”We couldn’t seem to get that first one past him,” Devils captain Zach Parise told the Associated Press. ”The opportunities were there. Some great chances right in front of the net, some good shots from the slot, but he made big saves. Then they got one early in the third, and we couldn’t rebound after that.”
It was such a dominant effort, Devils’ goaltender Martin Brodeur barely saw Lundqvist all night.
”From my view I saw him about 10 minutes because there were so many Rangers players in front of him,” he joked. “He played pretty well.”
New York, in its first conference final since 1997, look to be technically more sound than the Devils, winning 59 percent of face offs and scoring a power play goal against the league’s top penalty killers. The Rangers kept the Devils without a power play goal for the first time in four games. Still, New York is looking for areas to improve.
”We’ve got to be better,” Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said after the game. “We know that. We’ve got areas in the game that we need to improve on and we need to work on. We’ll be ready for (Wednesday).”
New York is favored to score first by Bovada’s Devils vs. Rangers Team Props with a -130 payout. The betting site is giving -275 odds that the team who scores first will win the game.
Lundqvist hasn’t surrendered more than three goals in any postseason game this year, but bettors be wary. The Rangers have only won two games in a row once this postseason, in the first round against Ottawa.
”We don’t look to come out the same way we did in Game 1,” forward Mike 
Rupp told the Associated Press. ”We’re fortunate, but we’ll move forward and make sure we’re better in Game 2. We need this game. It’s a pivotal game, and both teams want it. The stakes are going to be higher and the game is going to be at an even higher pace.
”In the first two rounds, we exchanged wins and losses through the first four games. We’re looking to get away from that. We want to win every game if we can. We obviously would like to string a few more together.”