The New Jersey Devils lead the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 after the second period in Game Five of the Stanley Cup championship on Saturday.
A goal by Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador midway through the second period snapped a 1-1 tie and gave the Devils a one-goal advantage entering the final 20-minute period.
Salvador's long slapshot ricocheted off Kings defenseman Slava Voynov just outside the crease and the puck flew by a stunned Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick and into the net.
Los Angeles leads the National Hockey League's best-of-seven championship series 3-1 and a victory would give the franchise its first title since entering the league in 1967.
Should the Devils win, the series will shift to Los Angeles for Game Six on Monday.
A goal early in the second period by the Kings' Justin Williams countered a first-period, power-play tally by Devils captain Zach Parise that ignited the raucous home crowd.
Parise, whose goal snapped a dismal string of 15 consecutive failures with a man advantage, stuffed a loose puck home after Quick left his crease and misplayed a puck that bounced off the end boards and out toward the net.
Three minutes into the second period, however, Williams brought the puck over the blue line on the right side and shuffled over to the middle of the ice. He then fired a high shot that eluded screened Devils netminder Martin Brodeur.
(Reporting By Steve Ginsburg; Editing by Frank Pingue)
