Kings-Devils Stanley Cup Final Preview, Game 5: Teams Are Battered But Courage Remains

Since we last met the New Jersey Devils...

IN: Still Henrik Tallinder (Devils) and Simon Gagne (Kings)

OUT: Adam Larsson, Peter Harrold (Devils); Brad Richardson, Kyle Clifford, Andrei Loktionov (Kings)

Enemy Reading: In Lou We Trust

Lineups:

Parise-Zajac-Kovalchuk
Sykora-Elias-Zubrus
Ponikarovsky-Henrique-Clarkson
Carter-Gionta-Bernier

Greene-Fayne
Salvador-Zidlicky
Volchenkov-Tallinder

Brodeur

Kings lineup:

Brown-Kopitar-Williams
Penner-Richards-Carter
King-Stoll-Lewis
Gagne-Fraser-Nolan

Scuderi-Doughty
Mitchell-Voynov
Martinez-Greene

Quick

The secret list of the wounded is getting longer and longer. Reporters have begun to drop both subtle and overt hints about just how banged up the players are. Travel miles are adding up. Playoff hockey is a grind, and it's been going on for months. They're the last ones standing in June.

Guys could be playing with broken limbs right now, and we'll only find out later. Do fans of other sports realize how incredible that is? I have no idea how they play through that much pain; when I stub my foot, I say "Ow." I am an ordinary mortal. Hockey players are straight up badasses.

Maybe these games haven't been as flashy as some would like, but each is a true battle. These teams make you work for every inch and hit like battering rams. They're going to take more damage and just keep going because it's for the Stanley Cup, dammit, you wait a lifetime for a chance like this. They may be in agony, but no one wants to be held back. This is it.

I don't know what's going to happen tonight, but I'll still be in awe of the force of their will.

Game begins in a hour.