Devils Fall to Kings, 5-1
The Devils are in the fifth wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Mar 3, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Kings center Jaret Anderson-Dolan (28) celebrates after scoring a goal in the first period against the New Jersey Devils at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports - Devils Fall to Kings, 5-1The New Jersey Devils dropped two straight games for the first time this season to start a calendar month.
The Los Angeles Kings celebrated a 5-1 victory at Crypto.com Arena with Phillip Danault celebrating his second career hat trick and goaltender Cam Talbot making 30 saves on 31 shots.
Timo Meier gave the Devils an early lead 15 seconds into the first period. It was his 13th goal of the season, which extended his point streak to three games. Nico Hischier earned the lone assist. It was the young captain's seventh point since Feb. 24.
It was New Jersey's first shot of the game.
Danault tied the game on the breakaway seven minutes later. The 31-year-old jumped off the bench and got behind the Devils defense and beat Nico Daws. Kevin Fiala threw the puck up the ice to his teammate, who had separated himself from rookie defenseman Luke Hughes.
Chatham, New Jersey native Alex Laferriere extended the Kings lead to 2-1 with five minutes remaining in the first period. A couple of Devils players lost their respective wall battles in the defensive zone, and Laferriere cashed in and scored his ninth of the season.
Los Angeles scored two goals on six shots and held a 2-1 lead going into the first intermission. The Devils fired 11 shots at Talbot and outhit their opponent 11-5.
The first half of the second period was a low event, but the wheels came off for the Devils when they gave up two goals in less than a minute.
Danault scored his second of the game, and Kevin Fiala celebrated his 19th goal of the season on the power play. It was Fiala's second point of the afternoon.
The Devils coaching staff made a goaltending change after Nico Daws allowed four goals on 13 shots. Akira Schmid entered the game in relief of his goaltending partner for a second straight game.
After 40 minutes, New Jersey trailed 4-1.
New Jersey was credited with 14 shots on Talbot in the third period, but the veteran netminder was perfect, backstopping the Kings to a 5-1 victory.
UP NEXT: The Devils will host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, March 5.
LINES:
Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt
Ondrej Palat - Jack Hughes - Tyler Toffoli
Curtis Lazar - Erik Haula - Dawson Mercer
Kurtis MacDermid - Tomas Nosek - Alexander Holtz
Kevin Bahl - John Marino
Luke Hughes - Colin Miller
Jonas Siegenthaler - Simon Nemec
Nico Daws
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