[h=3]By David Leon Moore, USA TODAY[/h]Updated
LOS ANGELES – After 45 years, the Los Angeles hockey team will have to wait at least three more days to see if it has a nickname that finally fits.
New Jersey Devils center Adam Henrique reacts after scoring a goal past Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick during the third period of Game 4 on Wednesday at Los Angeles.
The Kings failed to close out a sweep against the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Final, dropping Game 4 3-1 Wednesday, forcing them to play a Game 5 Saturday in New Jersey.
Devils center Adam Henrique broke a 1-1 tie with 4:31 left in the game on a terrific shot that beat arguably the biggest star of these playoffs, Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.
It's been a run right up there with the other great goalie playoff performances of the past decade or so - Detroit's Chris Osgood in 2008, and New Jersey's Martin Brodeur in 2000 and 2003.
One of the very few nits to pick with the Kings' brilliant playoff run has been their difficulties in home Game 4s. Before Wednesday, they had lost two of them - to Vancouver and Phoenix.
A dull, scoreless game heated up about eight minutes into the third period.
First, New Jersey's Patrik Elias, slapped a rebound into the net after a leg save by Quick, giving the Devils their first lead of the series.
Exactly one minute later, at 8:56, on a power play, the Kings' Drew Doughty blasted a low shot from the point that Brodeur, with traffic in front of him, could not stop.
And just like that, it was tied again.
For about seven minutes, when Henrique came in on the left side and threaded the needle with a shot that got past Quick and into the upper left corner of the net.
On a night of limited scoring opportunities, Kings center Trevor Lewis missed on a beauty with a chance to break a scoreless tie early in the third period.
He took a 2-on-1 pass from Simon Gagne and came in all alone on Brodeur but his shot - that slipped under the goalie - coasted wide of the net.
The second period was oddly quiet, the record Kings home crowd of 18,867 waiting to explode, but their team doing very little. And the Devils doing even less, with only three shots in the period.
After weeks of heart-pounding hockey drama in L.A.'s Staples Center, the hangar-like arena had suddenly turned into a no-excitement zone.
Through two periods, the Kings had outshot the Devils but not impressively so - 14-11. And five power-play opportunities, three by the Kings, had produced a moderate amount of scoring chances and no goals.
The Devils had good chances in the first period on a power play, but Quick was once again a block wall. Among his saves was a glove snag of Petr Sykora's blast from the high slot.
The Kings had only a few opportunities in the first period. The closest they got to a goal was Slava Voynov's shot off the post.
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LOS ANGELES – After 45 years, the Los Angeles hockey team will have to wait at least three more days to see if it has a nickname that finally fits.
By Jayne Kamin-Oncea, US Presswire
New Jersey Devils center Adam Henrique reacts after scoring a goal past Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick during the third period of Game 4 on Wednesday at Los Angeles.
New Jersey Devils center Adam Henrique reacts after scoring a goal past Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick during the third period of Game 4 on Wednesday at Los Angeles.
The Kings failed to close out a sweep against the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Final, dropping Game 4 3-1 Wednesday, forcing them to play a Game 5 Saturday in New Jersey.
Devils center Adam Henrique broke a 1-1 tie with 4:31 left in the game on a terrific shot that beat arguably the biggest star of these playoffs, Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.
- [h=3]PHOTOS: Top shots from the Stanley Cup Final[/h]
It's been a run right up there with the other great goalie playoff performances of the past decade or so - Detroit's Chris Osgood in 2008, and New Jersey's Martin Brodeur in 2000 and 2003.
One of the very few nits to pick with the Kings' brilliant playoff run has been their difficulties in home Game 4s. Before Wednesday, they had lost two of them - to Vancouver and Phoenix.
A dull, scoreless game heated up about eight minutes into the third period.
First, New Jersey's Patrik Elias, slapped a rebound into the net after a leg save by Quick, giving the Devils their first lead of the series.
Exactly one minute later, at 8:56, on a power play, the Kings' Drew Doughty blasted a low shot from the point that Brodeur, with traffic in front of him, could not stop.
And just like that, it was tied again.
For about seven minutes, when Henrique came in on the left side and threaded the needle with a shot that got past Quick and into the upper left corner of the net.
On a night of limited scoring opportunities, Kings center Trevor Lewis missed on a beauty with a chance to break a scoreless tie early in the third period.
He took a 2-on-1 pass from Simon Gagne and came in all alone on Brodeur but his shot - that slipped under the goalie - coasted wide of the net.
The second period was oddly quiet, the record Kings home crowd of 18,867 waiting to explode, but their team doing very little. And the Devils doing even less, with only three shots in the period.
After weeks of heart-pounding hockey drama in L.A.'s Staples Center, the hangar-like arena had suddenly turned into a no-excitement zone.
Through two periods, the Kings had outshot the Devils but not impressively so - 14-11. And five power-play opportunities, three by the Kings, had produced a moderate amount of scoring chances and no goals.
The Devils had good chances in the first period on a power play, but Quick was once again a block wall. Among his saves was a glove snag of Petr Sykora's blast from the high slot.
The Kings had only a few opportunities in the first period. The closest they got to a goal was Slava Voynov's shot off the post.
For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to [email protected]. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines.