The LA Kings suffered their first defeat of the roadtrip, as they fell by a 3-1 final score on Saturday evening against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center.
Neither team scored in a very low-event first period, which saw the teams combine for just nine shots on goal, despite a power play in each direction.
In the second period, despite the ice being tilted pretty aggressively in the other direction, the Kings opened the scoring against the run of play, as forward Scott Laughton buried his second goal of the trip. Coming out of the penalty box, Laughton went to the slot and collected a pass from forward Adrian Kempe, before burying his shot past Devils goaltender Jake Allen for a 1-0 lead. Kempe’s assist extended his scoring streak to four games, including all three on this trip.
Inside the final 90 seconds of the middle stanza, New Jersey tied the game at one through forward Anthony Mantha. As the Devils cycled through the offensive zone, Mantha collected the puck inside the left-hand circle. He made two good moves to get the puck onto his forehand and buries his shot past Kings netminder Anton Forsberg on the glove side to send the game into the second intermission at 1-1.
Just over eight minutes into the third period, the Devils pulled ahead as defenseman Brett Pesce got on the board. Pesce, in the right-hand circle, dragged the puck around Kings forward Andre Lee and with a moving screen in front of Forsberg, Pesce snapped his shot short side, through the traffic and in, to put the hosts ahead 2-1.
New Jersey hit the empty net to bring the score to the final of 3-1, with forward Arseny Gritsyuk the goalscorer.
Hear from forward Trevor Moore, defenseman Joel Edmundson and Head Coach Peter Laviolette after tonight’s loss in New Jersey.
