June 5, 2012, New Jersey Devils-Los Angeles Kings Game 3 Stanley Cup Final notebook for HockeyPrimeTime.com

Stanley Cup Final Notebook: Kings' defense at top of their game

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Written by Denis Gorman

Tuesday, June 05, 2012 03:16

Jonathan Quick has made huge strides in his game throughout the playoffs and has shown that he's not just a one-off, Vezina Trophy candidate, but an elite NHL goaltender as well. Lost in this, however, is the tremendous defense the Kings have been playing. The play of Jonathan Quick has been extolled throughout the Los Angeles Kings’ playoff run. That is a natural progression for an athlete who has a Stanley Cup Playoffs-high 14 wins, 1.44 goals-against average, a .947 save percentage and is second in shutouts with two. What has not been as widely celebrated has been the play of the defense corps and the Kings’ puck possession game. Quick has faced 456 shots in 16 games, an average of 28.5 shots per game. Of those 456 shots, only 24 have found their way behind him. “Over the course of the playoffs, it's been a point of emphasis,” coach Darryl Sutter said during his media availability in Los Angeles on Monday. “Other teams have said it, that's been a point of emphasis for them. The best way to keep players away from your net is for you to have the puck and not to play in your zone. If you're always defending, it's tough to keep guys away from your net all the time. If you have the puck [and] you're not in your zone, that's the best way.” ***** The Devils are down 0-2 in the series and have been outscored 4-2 in the first two games at the Prudential Center, both overtime losses. Yet Pete DeBoer and his charges aren’t panicking. DeBoer reported “no changes” to his lineup when he met with reporters. And his players opted to take positives out of Games 1 and 2 heading into Game 3. “I think we're just looking at it as they've been two great games, close games [that] went into overtime,' Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador said. "We've had our equal opportunity to win both those games. Obviously we didn't. “We see that we obviously got ourselves a little bit of a challenge here. But we're not discouraged by any means, because we could have easily split those games or won those games. Now we're just looking at today's game.” *****   Tim Thomas announced via his Facebook account Sunday that he was going to take the 2012-13 season off. … The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired goaltender Tomas Vokoun from the Washington Capitals for a seventh-round draft pick in a trade Monday. The Penguins later announced that the organization had agreed to a two-year, $4 million deal with Vokoun. …The Toronto Maple Leafs announced it had agreed to terms on contract extensions for AHL Toronto Marlies head coach Dallas Eakins and assistant coaches Gord Dineen and Derek King. …St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong said in a statement that rumors regarding Vladimir Tarasenko had signed with a Kontinental Hockey League franchise were “100 percent false and Vladimir is committed to join our organization for the upcoming season.” The Blues announced on Saturday that the organization had agreed to terms on a three-year, entry level deal with Tarasenko, who is ranked as the best non-North American prospect not in the NHL by Hockey’s Future. …The Kings and Fox Sports West announced in a joint statement that the local sports cable provider reached an agreement with the franchise to be its long-term broadcast partner. Terms were undisclosed but Fox Sports West will carry 75 regular-season games, first-round playoff games and preseason games. “We’re excited that FOX Sports West will remain the Kings’ local TV home. We want to thank (Kings owner) Tim Leiweke, (Kings President of Business Operations) Luc Robitaille, and the entire Kings organization for their efforts in making this deal happen,” said Fox Sports West Senior Vice President and General Manger Steve Simpson. You can follow us on Twitter @HockeyPrimeTime and @DenisGorman. Photos by Getty Images

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