1:04 AM: The final statlines:  Zajac with a goal and two assists, Elias with a goal and an assist, Parise with his 100th career goal, Rolston with a goal in his 1,000th career game, Kevin Weekes with 34 stops on 35 shots, and the Devils power play goes 3 for 7.  Not a bad night at all.  Goodnight everyone!

1:03 AM: To everyone who stayed up to keep me company on this LiveCap and enjoy this extremely satisfying win, I love you all, thank you.  I’m going to attempt to LiveCap tomorrow evening as well, assuming I’m home in time for it.

1:02 AM: Stars of the game: Zajac to win, Elias to place, Weekes to show.

1:01 AM: That’s the buzzer, 5-1 Devils win!  Can Kevin Weekes be one of the three stars…well, I don’t have a vote, but I have to say…YES WEEKES CAN!  YES WEEKES CAN!

1:00 AM: Less than a minute left in the game.

12:58 AM: Patty Elias with a beautiful between the legs drop pass…shame it was to nobody in particular.

12:56 AM: Fight!  Mike Rupp doesn’t want to lose his job in the Shanahan debacle, and takes down Matt Greene with five or six quick punched square to the head without absorbing any blows of his own.  That fight was all Rupp.

12:52 AM: Power play over, score remains 5-1 Devils.  I think I may be fading, luckily there’s only four-ish minutes left in the game.

12:50 AM: Slashing call on Brown puts the Devils on yet another power play with sevenish minutes to go in the game and a four-goal lead.  Parise’s back on the ice for the PP, so I guess he’s alright.  As we all breathe a GIANT sigh of relief.

12:46 AM: Matt Greene is now on every Devils fan’s shitlist, as he creams Parise, who’s shaken up on the hit.  The response from the Devils – A beautiful two-on-one goal by Langenbrunner from Travis Zajac and Johnny Oduya.  Parise seems to be okay-ish at least, he’s on the bench still.  5-1 Devils.

12:43 AM: Power play is thusly over.  If I haven’t mentioned it before…I have to say…I absolutely love the “The Money You Could Be Saving With Geico” commercials.  The money is just terribly adorable.

12:42 AM: It’s a good thing that our PP’s been so good tonight and that we’re up by three, because this particular PP is not so hot so far.

12:40 AM: Armstrong in the box for slashing.  Rolston scored his goal in his 1,000th game, for those who forgot that it was said game (like I did).

12:37 AM: Now they’re playing Ruby by Kaiser Chiefs!  The other Oduya song! (Ruby ruby ruby ruby/O do ya do ya do ya do ya).  I’m telling you, Johnny’s gonna be all over this.  ‘nother penalty coming on the Kings, the currently 3-for-5 Devils PP gets another crack at it.

12:36 AM: Rolston with a BLAST from the point and it’s 4-1 Devils!  Good God the man’s got a wicked slapper!  Good screen by Clarkson in front.  Gionta and Zubrus get the assists.

12:35 AM: Andy Greene needs a shave.

12:33 AM: I didn’t notice it on the other power plays (probably because two of them were so short), but it looks like the five-forwards-on-the-PP experiment is over, Martin and Langs are the first PP pointmen.

12:32 AM: Interference against LA.  That’ll probably piss off the LA fans who were bitching for a penalty on Colin White just a moment before the LA penalty.

12:30 AM: The unseen hand’s being a jerk to us right now.  Baaaad start to the third period.  Luckily Weekes seems to not be particularly distressed by his allowed goal and has made some moderately wicked stops to keep the Devils ahead by two.

12:29 AM: Armstrong gets credit for tipping it in.  Second of the year.  We always seem to give up goals to low-scoring players, no?

12:28 AM: Weak.  Frolov with a floater over the shoulder of Weekes and it’s 3-1 Kings.  Someone tipped it in front.

12:27 AM: Oh right, we started on a penalty kill.  No matter now, Johnny O’s outta the box and we’re full strength now.  Dream On on the organ in LA.  I love it.

12:26 AM: Third period, she begins.

12:09 AM: Time for coffee.  See ya when the third starts!

12:08 AM: Our PK has been stellar on this penalty.  Period ends with the Devils still up 3-0, and about 20 or 30 seconds remaining on the Oduya penalty.  I’d give you an exact, but MSG+ decided we didn’t need to know how much time was left.

12:06 AM: Doc and Chico with a hilarious discussion of how Chico’s complaints led to water bottles being allowed on the top of the net.  Detractors (Glen Sather) said “What else, do they want a bucket of chicken out there?”, leading Chico to proclaim that that would have been an early version of Chico Eats.  Love it.

12:04 AM: I’ve never had to type the letters “AM” while LiveCapping before.  If I screw this up in the future, my apologies in advance.  Penalty on Oduya for hooking.  Crap.

11:59 PM: Weekes with a big stop on the two-on-one again!  Weekes is on fiah!

11:58 PM: Zubrus gets sprung on a breakaway coming out of the box – and what a clumsy looking breakaway it was.  I’m gonna give Zubbie the benefit of the doubt that maybe it was crappy ice or something, but he nearly tripped over his own two feet, then let the puck kind of roll of his stick.  Whoopsie-daisy?

11:57 PM: Weekes with another big stop on the penalty kill.  YES WEEKES CAN!

11:54 PM: The one bad thing about this game so far – we’re getting absolutely creamed in the big hits department.  Captainbrunner just got plastered along the boards.  As if that didn’t suck enough, Devils get whistled for too many men on the ice, being served by Zubrus.   Poop.  Four-on-four for three seconds, then a Kings PP.

11:52 PM: The power play’s been on for twenty seconds and hasn’t scored yet.  What gives?!

11:50 PM: And Matt Greene heads to the LA box, so our suddenly spectacular power play gets to hit the ice again.  I’m giddy with excitement, and for a chance, I’m not being (all that) sarcastic!

11:49 PM: Salvador’s outta tha box.

11:48 PM: Hoooo boy Weekes most certainly doesn’t want to go back to his usual bench seat.  Great job with the stop on the power play on a two-on-one like chance from LA.

11:46 PM: Bryce Salvador goes to the box for roughing, Kings to the PP.

11:44 PM: Gettin’ a little sloppy in our own zone.  But that’s okay, because after the whistle, they’re playing Shut Up And Let Me Go by The Ting Tings.  I love other arena’s music.

11:41 PM: Kevin Weekes is looking QUITE sharp in net tonight.  I’m lovin’ it, of course.

11:39 PM: Oduya with a blast, but Quick gets it.  An Oduya goal is a-comin’, I tells you.

11:35 PM: Kings with a time out, and the Staples Center is playing Do You Want To by Franz Ferdinand.  Or as I call it, oDuya Wanna.  So, naturally, I’m calling a Johnny O goal this evening.

11:33 PM: PARISE!  I like it when we play the Kings.  Parise walks in pretty much uncontested and lifts a backhander above Quick for a 3-0 lead.  Parise’s goal is the 100th of his career.  A nice play by Elias to start the play.

11:32 PM: Our power play is magic I say!  Zajac wins the draw on the ensuing power play, back to Elias who blasts it through Quick.  The last PP goal was three seconds into the advantage, this one four seconds in!  2-0 Devils.

11:30 PM: Johnny Oduya gets creamed with a hit that seemed rather close to a forearm to the head – losing his helmet.  A King goes away for hooking on the same play, Devils on the PP.

11:29 PM: Second period underway!

11:10 PM: Clock winks down to the end of the first period, and for a change, it was actually pretty good on our end!  1-0 Devils, 10-7 shots in the Devils favor.  Weekes looking sharp, a power play goal, and a handful of solid chances on young master Quick.  Not a bad start at all.  See y’all in 17.

11:09 PM: Egregious giveaway behind the net, turns into a nice save by Weekes.  Once again, YES WEEKES CAN!

11:08 PM: Zubrus penalty = kill’t.

11:07 PM: Mouse brings up a good point in the comments – the left post is being cruel to us.  Stupid left post.

11:03 PM: Zajac now getting credit for the goal, from Langenbrunner and Elias – so I guess he tipped it.  Gionta banks one off the post that stops in the crease and just kind of hangs out there, drinkin’ a beer, havin’ a sammich – waiting for someone to do something.  Sadly, that someone is a King, who clears it safely from the crease.  This turn of events pisses of Zubrus, who takes it out on Kopitar, and heads to the box for tripping.  Get it got it good.

10:59 PM: Wow!  A Rolston-like drive by Langenbrunner for the power play goal from dead center.  Maybe tipped by a King.  Three seconds into the power play, it’s 1-0 Devils.  Give assists to Elias and Zajac.

10:57 PM: Matt Greene just hit Andy Greene.  This amuses me, Greene-on-Greene violence.  Elsewhere on the ice, a King takes a holding penalty and our soon-to-be perfect power play shall hit the ice again.

10:54 PM: Clearly the late start time is messing with me – I KNEW we got a power play, but it didn’t quite click that we were on a power play.  Sorry to not mention it.  All for naught, of course, because Brendan Shanahan is not on the ice yet.  That’s how it’s supposed to work, right?  He’s going to save our power play single-handedly, right?  RIGHT?

10:53 PM: Holy hell that was a nice stop by Johnathan Quick.  Parise on the doorstep is stoned by the Kings goalie with the glove – or, as the replay shows, with the edge of the glove, deflecting it under his body.  He sure flashed the glove like he got it there, though.

10:52 PM: I lied, the Kings are wearing their usual black-and-purple home jerseys.  See, THIS is why I need a high definition television.  Who wants to contribute to the cause?

10:49 PM: Doc and Chico are discussing Quick’s tubbyness.  Perhaps he’s not as quick as it would appear.  Meanwhile, the organist at the Staples Center was just playing Inagattadavita, reminding me of that scene from the Simpsons.

10:46 PM: We’re allowing quite a few shots, and not getting terribly close to this Jonathan Quick character.  I don’t like this Quick guy, his name is too appropriate for a good goalie.

10:42 PM: Josh’s typical early-in-the-LiveCap fashion review:  I really like both the regular and alternate Kings home jerseys.  Tonight they’re sporting – I think – the alternate.  But I haven’t seen a closeup, and don’t have an HDTV, so I could be wrong here.

10:40 PM: Shot on goal for the Kings, stopped by Kevin Weekes.  YES WEEKES CAN!  YES WEEKES CAN!  YES WEEKES CAN!…ahem.  Sorry.  I like that chant.

10:39 PM: The top two lines are the same, making the fourth line Pandolfo/Holik/Rupp – which of course begs the question “which of these is not like the other?  which of these is just not the same?”

10:38 PM: Rolston/Madden/Clarkson to start the evening, and the puck’s on the ice in the Staples Center.

10:35 PM: Oh, and Doc’s back!  Of course!  God it’s nice to see Doc again.  Speaking of Doc – mark down January 30th on your “Game to attend/watch” calendar – it’s Doc Emrick night at The Rock!

10:32 PM: Let’s get a quick run-down of the day’s news.  Brendan Shanahan is a Devil – he’s agreed, in principle (thank you spelling police!), to join the team.  He probably will not officially sign until he’s ready to play – a salary cap thing.  Numbers?  Not disclosed.

Other news for today:  Kevin Weekes is in net tonight for the Red n’ Black.  Brian Rolston is playing in his 1,000th career game tonight (’grats, Rollie!), there may or may not be a line shake-up tonight – we’ll see as we go on.

10:29 PM: Well here we are.  It’s been a long day with some big news.  But also, there’s a game tonight.  And, for better or worse, I’m going to livecap it.  Throw on a pot of coffee now boys and girls.  If you’re out there, let me know.  This one’s gonna be a fun one!

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