KOPITAR SCORED O.T WINNER; KINGS LEAD TAKE A 1-0 SERIES LEAD

GOAL SCORERS

LAK:   C. Fraser (09:56 - 1st) , A. Kopitar (08:13 - OT)

NJD:   A. Volchenkov (18:48 - 2nd)

GOALIES

LAK: J. Quick (W)

 NJD: M. Brodeur (L)

           Last night in New Jersey, it was Game 1 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals between the New Jersey Devils and the Los Angeles Kings. 10 minutes in, Nolan centred the puck to Fraser and he one-timed a shot between the legs of Brodeur to make it 1-0 LA. That was Frasers first career NHL goal. 3 minutes later with the Devils on a powerplay, Elias centred the puck to Zajac and his one-timer was stopped by the right shoulder of Quick. After 1 period of play, La had the lead and the shots were 5-5. With 5 minutes left to play in the second, Elias turned the puck over and played it to Zubrus on the left wing and his shot was stopped by the glove of Quick.Then with under 2 minutes to play, Volchenkovs point shot was stopped, but it went off an LA defenseman and in to tie the game.

         The shots in the second were 9-3 LA. There was no score in the third and the shots were 3-2 LA. So we needed overtime. 8 minutes in, Kopitar had a breakaway and he went from right to left and scored to win the game for LA 2-1 is the Final.''To put it past a goaltender like Marty is a good feeling,'' Kopitar said. The shots in this game were 25-17 LA. LA was the better team in this game. It showed mostly in the second when they didn't give up a shot for the first 8 minutes of that period.''I think it was probably the worst game in the playoffs for us,'' said Ilya Kovalchuk, who only had 1 shot on goal. ''Maybe we were a little too nervous before the game started, but it's all excuses. We've got to make sure we know what we didn't do right and be a different team next game.'' In the win, Quick made 16 saves. In the loss, Brodeur made 23 saves.

          Game 2 will be Saturday night at 8:00 PM E.t on CBS, RDS (French) & NBC

Written By Andrew Di Pardo