The New Jersey Devils staved off elimination from the Stanley Cup final with a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday that forces a fifth game in the best-of-seven National Hockey League championship series.
Devils rookie forward Adam Henrique spoiled the Kings' party plans of hoisting a maiden Stanley Cup when he sent a puck over the blocker side of Kings goalie Jonathan Quick with under five minutes to play for what proved to be the winning goal.
Ilya Kovalchuk added an empty-net goal to ice the victory.
After two scoreless periods, the Devils struck first when Patrik Elias slid a rebound past Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.
But the Kings responded one minute later on the powerplay when a Drew Doughty slapshot through traffic went between the legs of goalie Martin Brodeur.
The Kings lead the series 3-1 and can clinch the Stanley Cup with a Game Five win on Saturday in New Jersey.
(Reporting by Steve Keating; Editing by Frank Pingue)
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