The playoffs’ leading scorer says the Kings’ goalie won’t be what The King wasn’t.
“He’s not a difference,” Ilya Kovalchuk told The Post yesterday, speaking of upstart star Jonathan Quick.
Kovalchuk and the Devils open the Stanley Cup finals tonight in Newark, trying to hand the Kings and Quick their first road loss of the postseason after eight wins. Quick, 12-2, has two shutouts and a 1.54 goals-against average, having allowed 22 goals in three rounds.
Kovalchuk was not cowed.
“We’ve faced some good goalies during this playoff, and we found a way to score,” said Kovalchuk, tops in the playoffs with 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists).
Their latest victim was the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist, vanquished in six games after the MVP candidate blanked them twice in the first three.
Quick was the top-rated goalie with more than 40 games this season, going 35-21-13 with 10 shutouts, most in the league, and a 1.95 goals-against average, best among 40-game goalies with Lundqvist second.
“He’s a good goalie playing really well,” Kovalchuk said of Quick. “But if we create a lot of traffic and shoot the puck a lot, I think we’ll be OK.”
The Devils consigned 1994 to the trash heap of the record book by knocking off Lundqvist and the Rangers, but Quick brings 1994 right back.
The Milford, Conn., native grew up idolizing Rangers legend Mike Richter, the winner of that mythical 1994 semifinal classic against Martin Brodeur, leading to the Rangers’ last Stanley Cup.
Quick rooted against Brodeur and the Devils, and said he remembered 1994.
“I was a Ranger fan, and they played a lot against each other,” Quick said.
Now it’s Quick’s turn at trying to beat Brodeur, who has won three Cups since Richter’s.
“It’s pretty cool playing against him,” Quick said. “But it’s about the teams. The Kings against the Devils. It’s not an individual sport.”
Quick did give the Devil goalie his due.
“He wins,” Quick said. “He wins.”
Quick will find out tonight whether a hot goalie cools with eight days between games. The Kings are well rested, but they might be rusty.
“You need the rest, everybody needs the rest,” Quick said.
Coach Darryl Sutter seemed unconcerned about the lengthy break.
“Jonathan Quick is a great competitor,” he said. “He’s not a hot-and-cold goalie.”
Devils defenseman Peter Harrold played with Quick in Los Angeles, and said it won’t be easy to beat him.
“A lot of guys have tried and failed,” Harrold said. “We just faced Lundqvist, and he’s right up there, too. We have to get in his way and get pucks to the net. Anything can happen. That’s been our shot mentality.
“He’s super athletic. He can get to pucks other guys can’t, and he takes up a lot of room. He fights for pucks. If he can’t see it, he fights around so he can get an eye on it.
“He’s a good goalie. I hope we can find an answer.”
Playoff scoring hero Ryan Carter echoed Harrold’s assessment.
“It’s the same recipe that it took with Lundqvist,” Carter said. “You have to battle in front of him, make it difficult on him, maybe find a way to get some deflections and changes of direction.
“Lundqvist is a world-class goaltender with a pretty good defensive team in front of him. The Kings have the same type of goaltending, the same type of team, so it’s going to take the same type of things and we shouldn’t be surprised if something like that happens.”
Quick admitted he did not particularly enjoy the spotlight of media day at the Stanley Cup finals while Brodeur seemed at ease amid the throng.
Brodeur, who would be a top Conn Smythe Trophy candidate if the Devils win their fourth Cup, said he envies Quick’s agility.
“He’s an athlete, not just a goalie making saves and not moving,” Brodeur said. “He’s pretty spectacular to watch.
“I was never that flexible, and it ain’t getting better at 40.”
So another goalie gets a shot at the best ever. Only Patrick Roy has beaten Martin Brodeur in the finals.
“I’m looking forward to playing,” Quick said. “That’s exciting, to step onto the ice, playing at the highest level. It’s the most important games of your career. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
To win a fourth Stanley Cup, the Devils will have to kill his joy. That’s their biggest job.