You have to keep it serious on the ice during the Stanley Cup Finals, but you can imagine when you have two days in between games, you want to keep it as light as possible, at least for a little bit. The Los Angeles Kings tried to do just that in New York City Thursday night.

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The announcement that Simon Gagne was available to the Los Angeles Kings for the Stanley Cup Finals raised a lot of eyebrows.

Having been sidelined since December 26 with a concussion, there were many who thought there was no chance that we’d be seeing Gagne on the ice again this season. However, a day away from Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, it appears there still is such a chance.

Gagne was not on the top four lines during Kings practice at Prudential Center this afternoon, skating on a fifth line with regular scratches Kevin Westgarth and Andrei Loktionov. It appears that it’ll take something more drastic to get Gagne back in the lineup before the series is out.

A reason he might even get a sniff at the lineup is his career success against Martin Brodeur and the Devils. Gagne has 22 goals in 55 career games against New Jersey.

The Kings made no major changes to their lines and pairings from Game 1.

The Devils will play just their second game in the eight days since their Game 6 Eastern Conference clinching victory over the Rangers on Saturday night. This is the first of a pair of two-day breaks during the Stanley Cup Finals (there will be another between Game 4 and Game 5, if necessary) and New Jersey spent the day before getting rest and not trying to overthink things.

When asked if they’d rather play tonight, the answers from the Devils locker room were almost unanimously that they would. Travis Zajac was one of those, saying “Just knowing that you come off a game where you lose and it’s not your best effort, you wanna’ get back out as soon as possible. For us, the extra day of rest is important, either way, you can’t worry about it. You control what you control.”

Adam Henrique echoed a lot of what Zajac said about control, adding “I guess it’s a little odd to have a couple days after one game. The things you can’t control, don’t worry about it. We had a day off, came in today, watched video, prepare, and move on.”

Steve Bernier mentioned that the team is prepared to be affected by the long travel between New Jersey and Southern California, and used some of yesterday to get some extra rest. “You just use those days to rest,” he said, “It’s got nothing to do with learning the other team. It’s gonna’ get hard when you fly to LA, you don’t get any extra days.”

Ryan Carter was part of the Devils contingent trying to not to overthink the Game 1 loss. “Guys are probably just anxious to get back at it,” he said, “I think, if our bodies could handle it, we’d play seven in a row, just because the excitement’s there. You want to play, you want to compete, you want to win. So the two days’ rest is tough there. I’d rather be playing tonight, I would’ve rather played last night.”

I asked Carter if he felt Wednesday night’s overtime, which had the Devils a shot away from victory, made the team even more anxious to get back out there. He said “Not only overtime, but when you think about what’s at stake, I don’t think you really get fatigued. There’s always a little more inside, and you’ve got to reach down and grab it. You’ve got to reach down and grab it, but you’ve got to wait to use it.”

In about 30 hours, the Devils will finally hope to be able to use it.

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The New Jersey Devils had the game on their sticks more than a few times Wednesday night in Game 1 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals but, aside from a lucky bounce off of Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov, they had little to show for it in a 2-1 overtime loss marred by a clumsy defensive mix-up and a bunch of missed nets.

However, head coach Peter DeBoer was not acting as though his team deserved to win. Quite the opposite.

"You know, it would have been nice to get a bounce. But I don't believe we deserved to win tonight. That's the bottom line."

He added that, while the defensive mix-up that caused the game was not his team's best moment.

"We're playing to win the game. I don't make any apologies for that. You know, we made a mistake. They capitalized."

The problem, of course, was that the Devils made a lot of key mistakes throughout this game that they very well could have stolen from Los Angeles Wednesday night. Considering L.A. remains an undefeated 9-0 on the road this post-season, every win you can get against them is a steal at this point. The Devils had a chance to get the winning goal at a few points throughout the third and overtime, as well as a myriad of mistakes early on.

David Clarkson missed the net on two clear chances in the first period on solid passing plays. Zach Parise, in a desperation move, swept the puck into the net with his glove while prone in the third period. Mark Fayne missed a golden rebound opportunity in overtime with what was almost a sure thing had he gotten the shot off cleanly. Ilya Kovalchuk had open chances in overtime and went for deflections and rebounds instead of attempting a straight shot of the puck.

The winner of Game 1 in the Stanley Cup Finals has won 55 of the last 72 Stanley Cups. Despite two of the last three winners having lost the opener (Pittsburgh, 2009; Boston, 2011), that's still a 76.4 percent efficiency rating up against New Jersey.

Coach DeBoer remains optimistic, however, and he has a little bit of recent history to back it up.

"The good news is we started in the same hole against Philly, we started in the same hole against the Rangers. We responded to the situation in the right way the last two rounds, and I expect the same.

It's near the midpoint of the first overtime in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals and the New Jersey Devils have had their surge, as Ilya Kovalchuk missed the net on two open chances.

Now, there was traffic in front, so Kovalchuk was likely angling the puck a little bit, but let's hope this doesn't turn into a bunch of anti-Kovy and anti-Russians-in-big-spots screed.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals may have lacked an abundance of scoring chances and actual goal-scoring, but the New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings have just played one of the better periods of the postseason, despite neither team breaking the tie. It’s 1-1 in Game 1 of the 2012 Stanley Cup finals after three periods.

Both teams had their chances in the third. The Devils drove most of the first half and came the closest, as Zach Parise had a goal called back because he was rude enough to sweep the puck into the net with his glove.

Martin Brodeur robbed Drew Doughty shortly thereafter, making a two-pad slide that only Brodeur makes nowadays. Brodeur may have had his best period of the series. He stopped only eight shots, but most of them -- like the Doughty play -- were of extremely high quality. The Devils defense has shored up after their mistakes in the first period, and we’re at a point where an overtime is fitting, considering how these clubs have battled.

Shots are 22-16 in favor of the Kings, who also outshot the Devils 8-7 in period three.

The last Stanley Cup finals overtime period came in Game 2 of the 2011 series, which Alex Burrows ended after a mere 11 seconds. One has to think this extra session will go a little longer, but you never know in the Stanley Cup finals.

Patrik Elias has probably had one of the more forgettable post-seasons of his career on an individual level. However, he's gotten himself some luck of late. He went six games between goals until his lucky skate-bounce goal in Game 5 against the Rangers. Now, toward the end of period two, he's gotten another bit of luck, with a goal off his body to tie up Game 1 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals. The goal was credited to Anton Volchenkov but would surely would not have happened without Elias' deflection.

The goal ended what was actually a mediocre period for New Jersey. They didn't get a shot for nearly 15 minutes in the second, but they've finally broke through. Goals like these almost convince a team to think it can't waste puck-luck while they still have it. Either way, the next goal may do it here in Newark.

Stick with SB Nation's dedicated NHL hub for full Stanley Cup finals coverage. For more on the New Jersey Devils, check out Devils blog In Lou We Trust. For more on the Los Angeles Kings, check out Jewels From The Crown and SB Nation Los Angeles.

The New Jersey Devils weren't exactly outplayed in the first period; despite trailing 1-0, their deficit was purely of their own doing. A bad turnover by Andy Greene led to Colin Fraser's goal, and Peter Harrold looked bad on defense as well, to the point where we may see Adam Larsson or Henrik Tallinder as soon as Game 2.

The Devils' period, however, may have been encapsulated by 30-goal scorer David Clarkson missing a couple of surefire chances. He missed the net early in the period on a 4-on-2, and later had this chance, where he missed beating Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick by inches.

If the Devils stop making mistakes, they can hang with this Los Angeles team, as they often had the territorial advantage in the first period.

Dustin Brown loves to hit perhaps as much as any member of the Los Angeles Kings, but he took it too far when heading straight for New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur midway through the first period:

Brown got a two-minute penalty, but the Kings killed it off.

There are a few differences between the Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils, but one of the similarities is that both clubs have four lines stacked with offensive talent and players who fit their roles like a glove.

The teams are pretty much matching the lines the way you’d expect them to be drawn up. Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown versus Zach Parise and Travis Zajac. Adam Henrique and Ilya Kovalchuk versus Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. Both teams’ excellent fourth lines going toe-to-toe.

We have to imagine it'll stay like this until we see somebody strike first, and then Daryl Sutter or Peter DeBoer will have to adjust.

The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey has seen its share of quiet, mediocre attendance nights, but throughout the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, we haven’t seen any of them, and tonight is no different. The Rock in Newark is 60% full as the lights went up.

The place is buzzing on its own, but the Devils are doing their best to augment it with a high school drumline adding to the pre-game music. Team employees are handing out large, red glowsticks as well.

Martin Brodeur led the New Jersey Devils onto the ice for Game 1 of a Stanley Cup Finals for the fifth time in his Hall of Fame career. He’s won three times and lost once. There was a loud cheer from the crowd the first time Brodeur took to his goal crease.

The Devils will go with the same lineup as they used in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Rangers, which means playoff contributors like Petr Sykora and Adam Larsson remain scratches, while Jacob Josefson and Peter Harrold are in.

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In their last series, the New Jersey Devils faced a Vezina Trophy-nominated goaltender with a sterling reputation in the midst of a fantastic regular season and post-season. That goalie shut them out in two of the first three games before New Jersey eventually got to him, taking four of the last five to win the Eastern Conference Final over Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers.

Heading into the Stanley Cup Finals, the Devils now will do battle against Jonathan Quick, a goaltender who has developed a sterling reputation of his own, after going 12-2 on the Kings' way to the Finals. However, the Devils took on Lundqvist six times and constantly spent the regular season and playoffs hearing about him in the New York media.

New Jersey hasn't faced Quick since October, and with the Kings out on the west coast, playing most of their games past 10 p.m. ET, are the Devils maybe not as affected by the Los Angeles netminder's reputation as they would have been with Lundqvist?

"He's pretty much been the talk of the last couple days" Devils captain Zach Parise said. "So if we didn't know much about him before, we do now."

Parise, however, doesn't deny that there are some resemblances between Quick and his counterpart in New York.

"Similar to Lundqvist, they both have had great seasons, and you gotta' make it hard on them."

Still, the fact remains: The Devils scored three goals in the first three games against the long-heralded Lundqvist and were shutout twice in that span. In the final three games of the series, they scored 10 on Lundqvist and won all three games. The Kings are a little more aggressive than the Rangers in terms of forecheck, and it might not be so easy to climb out of holes as it was against New York.

"When you get to the Conference Finals, every team has a great goalie," said forward Patrik Elias. "These guys have been playing great hockey, and they don't get scored on much."

On Quick in particular, Elias is impressed but feels the Devils can beat him.

"He's been solid for them. We know that some of the things that maybe we can exploit. Anytime you can have traffic in front of a goalie that's gonna' make it difficult for them."

Head coach Pete DeBoer echoed these sentiments and compared New Jersey's efforts to get to Quick to how they ended up beating Lundqvist.

"You have to get traffic, bodies, shots," DeBoer said. "You can't get frustrated. Lundqvist shut us out the first two [out of three] games of that series despite, I thought, a pretty significant territorial edge on our part. We stuck with it. We got rewarded for taking that approach against Lundqvist. We have to do the same thing here."

Stick with SB Nation's dedicated NHL hub for full Stanley Cup Finals coverage. For more on the New Jersey Devils, check out Devils blog In Lou We Trust. For more on the Los Angeles Kings, check out Jewels From The Crown and SB Nation Los Angeles.

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Though New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello is never short on confidence, he will admit that it took a while for him to believe his team could make the run it has, all the way to the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals

"You like to think every team you ever have has a chance," Lamoriello told the assembled press at Media Day in Newark. "I don't think we ever did until halfway through the year."

Lamoriello has run the Devils with what some would call an iron fist since 1988, and has already built three Stanley Cup winners, so he knows what it takes to win. When the coaching staff, led by Peter DeBoer, gained total credibility with his team, Lamoriello knew there was the potential for something special.

"The communication they had with the players and the way the players bought into the system, both veterans and young players -- anytime we had any adversity, [we] came out of it quickly, no looking back," he said. "It's probably one of the best teams we've had as far as chemistry."

It's no coincidence, perhaps, that the team coming together halfway through the year has a lot to do with the trades he made around that time, acquiring forward Alexei Ponikarovsky from the Carolina Hurricanes, and defenseman Marek Zidlicky from the Minnesota Wild.

"What we saw when we got to halfway through the year, we didn't really have the depth on the lower end of our lines," Lamoriello said. "No disrespect, but to do maybe some of the things that you could take ice team away from the veterans. We had our veterans killing penalties, maybe giving too many minutes. Our focus was how can we get our fourth line better, where they could take some of the top minutes away if we could continue to use our top players."

The trades -- as well as the moves to call up Steve Bernier and Stephen Gionta -- were mostly a matter of right place, right time.

"Poni was available at that time because of where Carolina was," Lamoriello said. "We knew of him. We certainly saw enough of him in Toronto. We thought he would be a perfect fit as far as a player that would go up and down in weight, size and strength. Bernie, we knew we had in the minors.

"It was just a case of getting him here. We had signed him. He was in great shape and he was hungry. He committed himself to go to the minors and prove it, then he broke his wrist. Then he became healthy, we got him back once he was healthy. We felt good with that because we had [Jacob Josefson]. Then [Josefson] gets hurt and we have to have a center. We went the safe way, Gionta. So he's come in seamless. Now we have a fourth line."

Bringing it all together is another move that Lamoriello is now getting a lot of credit for, hiring a then out-of-work DeBoer as somewhat of a surprise choice to coach this team. Lamoriello says that despite DeBoer's record in Florida and having never made the post-season, he was impressed.

"We played against Florida a lot over the three years," Lamoriello said. "It was always remarkable how they competed no matter where they were in the standings. I knew he was a very hard coach on his players because he didn't want to accept anything but the best out of them. That to me was a positive because he might have wanted success, maybe didn't have the talent to get there."

There's no doubt Lamoriello and DeBoer have a team that has shown it has the talent after surprising most of the prognosticators and coming within four wins of a Stanley Cup.

Stick with SBNation.com for full Stanley Cup Finals coverage. For more on the New Jersey Devils, check out Devils blog In Lou We Trust. For more on the Los Angeles Kings, check out Jewels From The Crown and SB Nation Los Angeles.

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The Los Angeles Kings have not exactly been shown the red carpet by the LA media corps this postseason.

While the ever-fantastic @LAKings has done it's best to combat that, their own website's production got caught with a gaffe during the post-game press conference after Los Angeles' Game 5, Campbell Bowl-clinching victory over the Coyotes.

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