Kings end four-game slide with 3-1 win
NEWARK, N.J. -- Slow starters much of the season and during their recent losing streak, the Los Angeles Kings used a different formula Tuesday night, scoring twice on their first three shots to snap a four-game skid with a 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center.
Playing for the second consecutive night, the Kings (23-21-4) jumped to a quick 2-0 lead and then did a good job stifling the Devils (20-20-9) most of the remainder of the game.
Kings goalie Peter Budaj posted his 21st victory of the season by stopping 24 of 25 shots. He lost his shutout bid at 7:19 of the third period when Kyle Quincey's shot deflected off a Kings defenseman and into the net.
Budaj did make two stellar saves in the third period -- a spinning stick stop on Kyle Palmieri at 4:32 and a diving pad save to rob Jacob Josefson on the doorstep at 8:05 -- as the Kings maintained their lead.
Anze Kopitar and Tanner Pearson each scored before the game was two minutes old as the Kings got the fast start they have been seeking.
Alec Martinez gave Los Angeles a 3-0 lead before the first intermission arrived.
Kopitar's goal, only his fifth of the season and second in the last 19 games, came 50 seconds into the game on a power play from the right wing. Pearson then shrugged Devils defenseman Steven Santini off his back and scored from in front at 1:46 for his 15th goal of the season.
The Devils had an excellent chance to get right back in the game when the Kings were assessed back-to-back minor penalties 16 seconds apart. However, the Devils failed to score with the two-man advantage, managing three shots on goal and another by Adam Henrique that kissed iron instead of net.
Martinez scored his seventh goal of the season at 16:15 of the first period, poking a loose puck under Devils goalie Cory Schneider one second after a Kings power play concluded.
When the second period started, Schneider was on the bench in favor of backup Keith Kinkaid. Schneider, who had missed New Jersey's previous two games because illness, allowed three goals on 11 shots.
Neither team scored in the second period, though it appeared momentarily the Devils had at 6:14. The net was off its moorings before the puck crossed the goal line, however, and the apparent goal was immediately waved off.
NOTES: The Kings were playing the third game of a five-game road trip on Tuesday. It marks their third trip of five games or more already this season. ... Scratched for Los Angeles were D Matt Greene (undisclosed), C Nic Dowd (undisclosed) and D Tom Gilbert (healthy). ... Earlier Tuesday the Devils activated D Yohann Auvitu from injured reserve and assigned him to Albany of the American Hockey League. ...The Devils remained without injured Ds Andy Greene (upper body) and John Moore (concussion) and RW Beau Bennett (lower body). ... New Jersey's healthy scratches were RW Devante Smith-Pelly and D Seth Helgeson.