Hall, Devils end Kings winning streak at eight

NEWARK, N.J. -- Taylor Hall scored twice to help the New Jersey Devils end the Los Angeles Kings' eight-game winning streak with a 5-1 victory at Prudential Center on Tuesday. It was the longest winning streak in the NHL this season.

Travis Zajac, Brian Boyle and Brian Gibbons scored, and Cory Schneider made 16 saves for the Devils, who had lost two straight.
"On Saturday (in a 5-2 loss at the New York Rangers) we played soft and loose, and against Los Angeles] we played tight and hard and I think that was a big difference, " Devils coach John Hynes said. "The players took pride in their work."
***[WATCH: [All Kings vs. Devils highlights]*
Hall did not return after going to the locker room with 3:04 remaining after a knee-on-knee hit from Los Angeles defenseman Kurtis MacDermid 7:16 into the third period. Hynes is expected to provide an update on the forward's status after practice Wednesday.
"It would not be good if [Hall] couldn't play but he's a tough guy," Devils center Nico Hischier said. "I don't know what it is or what he has, but if he can't play, we'll have to play for him for sure."

Torrey Mitchell scored, and Jonathan Quick made 21 saves for the Kings (20-9-3), who were playing the first of a four-game road trip.
"We played a hockey team that had lost three of its last four and we knew we were going to get their best game," Kings coach John Stevens said. "We're a team that won eight in a row. One team was really, really, hungry and one was complacent. I'll take responsibility for that.
"Obviously, we weren't ready."
New Jersey scored twice in the second period to take a 4-0 lead on goals by Hall and Boyle.

Hall scored his second of the game, 11th of the season 15:42 into the period when he stole the puck from defenseman Jake Muzzin just over the Kings blue line, skated past Drew Doughty and put a backhand between Quick's pads. Boyle scored 1:22 later from the left circle at 17:04.
"We were ready to go from the drop of the puck and used our speed and legs and executed really well," Schneider said. "All the things we talked about the last few days that didn't go well for us in games prior ... we got the message and executed. We knew we had to jump on them and not give them a chance to get settled in and find their rhythm."
Hall gave the Devils a 2-0 lead at 16:14 of the first period when he scored a power-play goal from the left circle on a cross-ice pass from Jesper Bratt.
"Hall was a leader," Boyle said. "He was really moving the whole night and had two big goals."
Hall has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past nine games. The forward, who sustained a knee-on-knee hit from Los Angeles defenseman Kurtis MacDermid 7:16 into the third period, went to the locker room at 16:56 and didn't return.

The Devils took a 1-0 lead when Zajac scored his second of the season off a rebound at 13:44.
"It was really important to bounce back like this," Hischier said. "We found our game again and played 60 minutes. When we do, we feel we can beat anyone in this League."
Mitchell ended the shutout by scoring on a tip-in at 12:04 of the third.
Gibbons scored a shorthanded goal with 11 seconds remaining in the third period.

Goal of the game

Hall's power-play goal 16:14 into the first period.

Save of the game

Schneider's save on Trevor Lewis at 4:45 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Hall's goal 15:42 into the second period.

They said it

"Are we happy with the effort? Absolutely not. But we can't get too down on ourselves because if you do that snowball can start rolling again in the wrong direction. We've got a couple of days now where we can really regroup. We're practicing outdoors (on Wednesday in Central Park in New York). It will hopefully be a boost of energy for us." -- Kings captain Anze Kopitar
"I think we learned our lesson. We were way better. We kept our foot on the gas and we didn't make many mistakes. It took us 15 minutes (of the second period) to get the third goal, but it makes a huge difference when you stick with your game and get rewarded instead of making a mistake and having it end up in your net." -- Devils goalie Cory Schneider

Need to know

Kings forward Kyle Clifford, who returned after missing 28 games because of an upper-body injury, had three hits in 9:22 of ice time. ... Los Angeles' longest winning streak is nine games, from Jan. 21-Feb. 6, 2010. ... Hall scored twice for the first time since a 4-3 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 28.

What's next

Kings: At the New York Rangers on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, TVA Sports, MSG, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Devils:At the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)