LOS ANGELES — Those regal dynasties — the Canadiens, the Oilers, the Islanders — seemed to play close to perfect Stanley Cup hockey. This year’s Los Angeles Kings have toppled records in dominating fashion like those teams of long ago. On Monday, the Kings beat the Devils, 4-0, at Staples Center and took a stranglehold 3-0 lead in the series. On Wednesday, they can win the first Cup in club history.
The Kings ran their postseason record to 15-2, one victory shy of the 16-2 mark registered by the 1988 Edmonton Oilers, the modern record for playoff dominance. The Kings are on the verge of the first sweep in the finals since Detroit whitewashed Washington in 1998.
The Devils rarely could get free for shots, and when they did, Jonathan Quick was there to stop them, making 22 saves. The Devils tried to stifle the Kings as they did in the first two games in New Jersey, but finally, four Kings broke through for goals: Alec Martinez, Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter and Justin Williams.
Quick has stopped 73 of 75 Devils shots in the series. Over all in the playoffs he has stopped 454 of 478 shots, a .950 save percentage that is the best for any goalie to play at least 10 playoff games and 500 minutes since the league expanded to three rounds in 1968.
“I’ve never been a believer in save percentage or goals against,” Quick said. “I’ve been a believer in wins. That’s what I think great goalies do — they win games.”
It was not as if the Devils were sluggish, or overwhelmed, or executed poorly. They were simply victims of the Kings’ swarming, nearly flawless defense, which they have used throughout the postseason to overcome their regular-season mediocrity — they lost 42 of 82 regular-season games — and transform themselves into a seemingly unbeatable juggernaut.
“We liked the way we were playing and we felt like we were going to get one, but it just didn’t happen,” said Zach Parise, who led the Devils with four shots. “It’s frustrating when everyone’s been playing well and we find ourselves down three-nothing.”
Everywhere Ilya Kovalchuk went, a King was on him. Parise fought for space and had to make do with only rare flashes of it.
The Kings allowed the Devils the first six power plays of the game, but gave up only three shots on them. The Kings even took one shot themselves. It has been this way for the Kings all series, all spring.
“We had some power-play opportunities there,” Devils Coach Peter DeBoer said. “We need to score one. Credit to them. You know, their goalie made some big saves early. We couldn’t get one.”
When the Kings finally got a power play — early in the third period — they converted in short order. Mike Richards set up Carter for his second goal of the series and sixth of the playoffs at 4 minutes 15 seconds. That made the score 3-0, and put the game — and probably the series — out of reach.
They got a second power play, and Williams scored on that one to make it 4-0. The crowd started chanting, “We want the Cup!”
After the ceremonial opening puck drop by Wayne Gretzky, who in 1993 led the Kings in their last trip to the finals, Game 3 got off to a more energetic first period than in the first two games.
The Devils did not look awed either by their 2-0 series deficit or by their first game outside the Eastern time zone since Jan. 14, when they visited Winnipeg to close out a three-game swing through Western Canada.
They matched the Kings chance for chance in the first period, with the Parise-Travis Zajac-Kovalchuk line producing several threats. The Devils were then given a huge chance to take their first lead of the series when Richards was sent off for elbowing at 14:35 and Carter went off 1:01 later with a double minor for cutting Adam Henrique with a high stick.
Despite having the puck in the Los Angeles zone for most of the advantage, they managed only two shots on net during the five-on-four situation, and just one during the five-on-three. Quick repelled them all.
Three more shot attempts were blocked, and two were fired wide. Finally, Marek Zidlicky was forced to pull down Richards, and the Devils’ best regulation-time chance of the series was effectively finished.
That turned out to be only the start of the Devils’ problems on the power play.
In the second the Kings pulled away. The first goal, from Martinez, perhaps should not have counted. The play started when the Kings’ big rookie with five postseason goals, Dwight King, flattened Jacob Josefson along the boards in the Devils’ zone. Trevor Lewis passed the loose puck to the now wide-open King, who took two close-range shots that Martin Brodeur stopped.
Brodeur seemed to have the puck smothered, but Martinez cruised in, whacked his pad and swept the exposed puck in for his first career playoff goal.
Simon Gagne skated for the Kings for the first time since sustaining a concussion Dec. 26. He played only 6:39 and took 3 of the Kings’ 21 shots.
His name is eligible to be engraved on the Cup.
“I never won it,” said Gagne, a 12-year veteran. “Playing with a team that wins the Stanley Cup, that’s my goal before I end playing hockey.”
SLAP SHOTS
Mark Messier was in the building Monday to announce the finalists for his N.H.L. leadership award: Dustin Brown, Ryan Callahan of the Rangers and Shane Doan of the Phoenix Coyotes. ... The Kings became the first team to take a 3-0 lead in all four rounds. Of the 25 teams to fall behind by 3-0 in the Stanley Cup finals, only the 1942 Maple Leafs rallied to win, beating the Red Wings.
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