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NHL Playoff Preview: Who Will Skate Away with the Stanley Cup?

Online Sportsbook Overview
Every NHL offseason, teams clamor to sign the hottest goal-scoring free agents available. In the summer of 2011, the big prize was Brad Richards who wound up going to the New York Rangers. Those offensive stars help to sell tickets and create excitement during the regular season. But every single time the Stanley Cup Finals roll around, the teams with the best goalies and best defenses usually wind up facing each other. That is definitely the case this year as the New Jersey Devils prepare to meet the Los Angeles Kings for the Stanley Cup. Even the best online sportsbook knows that a team still has to put the puck in the net to win the big prize. That is where the Kings may have an advantage.

In December 2010, the New Jersey Devils were left for dead. The team was wallowing in last place in the Eastern Conference and had no confidence in itself. Right before Christmas, New Jersey brought back former head coach Jacques Lemaire and the Devils almost made the playoffs last season. This year, under new head coach Peter DeBoer, the Devils finished sixth in the Eastern Conference and were not on anybody's radar to make the Finals. The Kings had collapsed two seasons in a row and the pay per head sportsbook experts expected a similar result this season. With the Kings in the Stanley Cup Finals, it is safe to say that most experts are surprised.

New Jersey Devils
The Eastern Conference Finals was the perfect storm for the New Jersey Devils. The New York Rangers were having problems closing out teams and had taken its two previous series to seven games. The Rangers were also having a lot of problems scoring goals. New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was not playing up to his usual level and the Rangers were in a vulnerable position. The Devils pounced on the situation and used a defensive style of play to beat the Rangers. A BSNblog review of the way the Los Angeles Kings play hockey shows a team that is much different than the Rangers. If the Devils want to win this series, it will have to find its offense and quick.

Los Angeles Kings
Things were getting frustrating in Los Angeles for the Kings. The team needed to score goals to win because it plays in front of the best goaltender in the league in Jonathan Quick. The NHL hockey news writers had been writing about Quick for two years, but very few hockey fans listened. Now that the Kings have developed a scoring touch, the work of Jonathan Quick is making headlines all over the league. The Kings and its fans are very optimistic, and they have good reason to be so.

The Bottom Line
No one is questioning the abilities of New Jersey's 40-year-old future hall of fame goaltender Martin Brodeur. But the general consensus is that Brodeur will be under siege in this series from a Los Angeles offense that has learned how to be relentless when crashing the net. To beat the Kings, the Devils have to catch the Kings. That is a lot easier than it sounds.

BSNblog Free Pick: Los Angeles in six

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