The Los Angeles Kings won the first game of the Stanley Cup Final 2-1 last night. Fourth line centre Colin Fraser opened the scoring in the first period for the Kings, before Anton Volchenkov replied for the lackluster Devils in the second period.

It was a cagey game without much offence from either side, and New Jersey’s attack disappeared for long stretches before a soldout crowd of 17,625. Devils coach Peter DeBoer said: “We’ll be better on Saturday night. I don’t believe we deserved to win tonight, that’s the bottom line and that’s what happened. If we had have won, we would have been sneaking one out.” 

The game had to go into overtime to decide the winner, and a goal was found by LA 8:13 into overtime. Justin Williams found Anze Kopitar with a backhand pass from his own blue-line as the Devils seemed to run into each other. The Kings star raced in alone, deking Martin Brodeur before slipping it over him with a forehand shot for his seventh goal of the playoffs. 

LA, the eighth seed in the West, is now 9-0 on the road in the playoffs. For goalie Jonathan Quick, it was a record 11th consecutive road playoff win dating back to last year, erasing Billy Smith’s mark for the 1979-80 New York Islanders. 

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