NJ Devils stave off elimination in Game 5 of Stanley Cup Finals, beat LA Kings 2-1 - New York Daily News

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopo..._635/image.jpgJulio Cortez/AP

Bryce Salvador celebrates second-period goal with Anton Volchenkov, helping Devils to send series back to Los Angeles.

DEVILS 2, KINGS 1
Zach Parise was frustrated, but not done. The Devils left wing broke through for the first time in the Stanley Cup Final, scoring his first goal of the series and powering the Devils to a 2-1 Game 5 win at the Prudential Center.
The win kept the Devils’ season alive. Now chase the Stanley Cup and history across country. Only 25 teams in NHL history have rallied from an 0-3 hole in the Stanley Cup Final. Now, the Devils are the first team in 67 year and one of only three that came back to force a sixth game. Just one team, the 1942 Maple Leafs, has overcome losing the first three games of the Final series to win a Stanley Cup.
The Devils return to Los Angeles where the Kings will try for the third time -- and second time on home ice -- to finish them off in Game 6 Monday night at the Staples Center.
Finishing off the Devils has not proven to be as easy as it looked a week ago. The Devils handed the Kings their first road loss of the playoffs Saturday night and their top players, who struggled in the first four games, came to life Saturday night.
Parise set the tone by out-hustling everyone on the ice to score his first goal of the Final in the first period Saturday night. Veteran goaltender Martin Brodeur kept the pressure on the Kings, stopping 25 of the 26 shots he faced
On the power-play, Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick came out to play the puck behind his net and turned it over at the right post. Parise beat both Kings defensemen and Quick to the puck and shoved it in.
It was not only Parise’s first goal and first point of the Stanley Cup Final, it was only his second goal against a goaltender in 13 games.
It came after much frustration and consternation about Parise and the top-line’s lack of production in the first four games of the series.
Wednesday night, with the Devils having to fight off being swept in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history, Parise and his linemate Ilya Kovalchuk led the Devils with four shots on goal each. Still, all the Devils top line of Parise, Kovalchuk and Travis Zajac have to show for the first four games is an assist for Zajac and Kovalchuk’s empty-net goal at the end of Game 4.
Devils coach Peter DeBoer was quick to defend his captain.
“Zach’s game is so much more than the stat line.” DeBoer said. “He’s the heartbeat of our team. He’s the identity of our team. He forechecks, he back-checks, he kills penalties, plays in all situations. He really is our barometer and he’s the guy that makes us go, whether he’s scoring or not. I don’t measure his game on goals and assists. He’s creating opportunities. They’re eventually going to go in. He’s had these type of situations before. It’s tough out there right now for anybody to score, but I’m not concerned about his game and I know it’s going to come."
Parise’s first-period goal was the Devils’ first goal on the power play in the series, they were 0-for-15 going into Saturday night’s Game 5. It was also the first time the Devils held a lead in their own building.
They held the lead until Kings’ right wing Justin Williams, who had been denied in the first period by the post, whipped a shot past Brodeur at 3:26 in the second.
Bryce Salvador, the Devils defenseman who has been an offensive surprise in the playoffs, banked a slapshot off Kings defenseman Slava Voynov and past Quick at 11:05 in the second to get the Devils back the lead. It was the fourth goal and 14th point of the playoffs for Salvador, who did not have a goal all season.

http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif