FINAL – Kings 2, Devils 1 – Arvidsson, Kempe, Rittich, Hiller

A power play goal by Quinton Byfield with less than six minutes remaining in the third period propelled the LA Kings to a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Thursday night in the first meeting of the season between the two teams.

David Rittich earned the win for the Kings between the pipes with 26 saves, while Anze Kopitar scored LA’s first goal of the night while shorthanded during the second period.

Kopitar opened the scoring at 8:07 of the middle frame on a play that saw he and Adrian Kempe get out on the rush as they broke out of their own zone. Kopitar moved the puck up the boards to Kempe, who had space down the right wing and went right to the New Jersey net. His initial attempt was blocked, but Kopitar followed up the play and crashed the net to get to the rebound first and backhanded the puck into an open net for his 16th of the season.

The Devils evened the game at 1-1 when Tyler Toffoli scooped up a loose puck in the crease off a shot by Jesper Bratt and beat Rittich for his 23rd goal of the year, and his fourth goal against the Kings in nine career games vs. LA.

Moments after the tying goal, New Jersey netminder Nico Daws made sure it stayed that way, robbing Kempe, who had a look at an open net, with a stellar glove save.

But Byfield cashed in with the lone tally of the third period to give the Kings the lead for good with 5:37 remaining, netting his 17th of the year and fifth on the power play with a wrist shot from directly in front of the net off a rebound of a shot by Brandt Clarke.

Penalties were a big part of the final 40 minutes, with a total of 10 minor infractions called, six of which were on the Kings. The first two goals of the game came with an LA player in the penalty box, while Byfield’s winner was during a holding call on Curtis Lazar.

Despite it having no effect on the scoreboard, the Kings had the run of play in their favor during the opening period, out-shooting New Jersey by a 13-5 margin and out-chancing them 26-10.

LA ended at 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Devils finished 1-for-5. Daws stopped 27 shots in a losing effort for New Jersey.

Rittich spoke after the game, as well as forward Viktor Arvidsson, who made his return to the lineup for the first time this season, as well as Kempe.

David Rittich
On the team’s response after the loss in Buffalo
Obviously, the response was huge and compared to the Buffalo game I guess it was a better start, played our game, did the right things at the right time. Don’t do just stupid stuff that can hurt us and take us down.

On how much the penalties called changed the flow of the game
Every single kill or power play gives that team energy and we knew they had a really good team – they’re top 10 in the NHL in power play and they showed us why. I just feel we could play that a little differently and it wouldn’t have even happened. It is what it is, obviously on the power play when you score it gives you momentum and on the other hand when you survive a kill it gives you momentum so it was good. We scored shorthanded and the goal at the end was on the power play so it was good for us.

On how he is feeling in late-game situations when the score is close
I feel good. I mean, I’m feeling good no matter what situation it is. It’s a lot on those guys because they made me feel good. They made me feel comfortable and I’m just trying to pay off my opportunity here and when my name is called to play I’m just trying to do my best. Some games place more on me and some games less but we just wanted to prove today the Buffalo game was just a fluke.

Viktor Arvidsson
On him being involved in the play right away in his return
That’s how I play, I think I play that way. It was a great process coming back in to play and I got the break, I got to work a lot and the team and the management and everything helped me come back ready to go so it felt great to be back.

On if it was easier to come back and play with old linemates like Danault and Moore
Yeah, for sure. That helps. I’ve been playing with them for my whole stint here in LA and it’s been great. We’ve been fighting each other well, and I think we did that tonight too. We had some great chances and it felt really good

On if it was easier during this rehab being around the rest of his teammates
Yeah for sure, I’ve been around every time they’re home I’m trying to be with the guys and hang out and stuff like that. It was for sure easier, not being by yourself and trying to find a way back. It helped a lot and like I said the management and the trainers and everything helped me to get back and be ready to go.

Adrian Kempe
On if that was more of the complete game performances the team has had recently
Yeah, I mean I think we all played hard and had a good response from the last game. Every guy contributed tonight. Obviously, it was a tight game all the way to the end, a 2-1 game, that’s Kings hockey. It was a pretty good game from us and I think we’re happy with the way we responded.

On what he liked most about playing with Dubois and Laferriere
We had some good speed coming through the neutral zone, I think we were pretty solid in the d-zone and then obviously, as the game went on, a lot of penalties and stuff like that so we kind of fit in a little away from each other at the end of the game and started playing with Kopi and Q a little bit more at the end. The start was good. Had some good energy going, that was a team effort for sure.

On the way they played on the penalty kill
Yeah, I mean, I think we’ve been sharp all year. We get a good momentum from it. Obviously, a couple of nights now where we take too many penalties so that’s obviously something we got to work on. But other than that, while we’re out there, we help each other, we work hard out there, get in shooting lanes, whatever it takes and it’s fun to see the momentum change for sure.

Jim Hiller

Notes –
– Anze Kopitar (1-0=1) scored his 16th goal of the season for his first shorthanded goal (SHG) on the year. Kopitar has now scored a goal in three straight games against the Devils (3-0=3) and has nine points (3-6=9) over his last eight games vs. New Jersey, dating back to Feb. 5, 2019. Kopitar is the seventh different Kings skater with a shorthanded tally this year. Only the St. Louis Blues (9) have more skaters with at least one SHG.
– With his goal, Kopitar has now tallied 1,184 career points (409-775=1,184), tying Rod Brind’Amour (452-732=1,184) for the 53rd-most points in league history. The goal was the 409th of Kopitar’s career, breaking a tie with Ray Ferraro (408) and Patrik Elias (408) for sole possession of the 100th-most goals scored in NHL history.
– Kopitar’s goal marked his 200th career road goal, joining Marcel Dionne (262) and Luc Robitaille (235) as the only skaters in franchise history to record 200 road goals.
– Per NHL PR, Kopitar also tied Luc Robitaille (69) for the second-most game-opening goals in Kings history, trailing only Marcel Dionne (70).
– Quinton Byfield (1-0=1) registered his 17th goal of the season and 25th of his career to become the 23rd skater in Kings history to score 25 goals before the age of 22.
– Adrian Kempe (0-1=1) notched his 28th helper of the season. Kempe has now picked up assists in three straight games against the Devils, dating back to Jan. 14, 2023.
– Brandt Clarke (0-1=1) picked up his second assist of the season.
– Pierre-Luc Dubois (0-1=1) tallied his 11th assist of the season. Dubois has now scored five points over his last five games against New Jersey (1-4=5) dating back to Dec. 3, 2021 (with WPG).
– Alex Laferriere, a native of Chatham N.J., skated in his first hometown game for the 50th game of his NHL career, becoming the 28th skater, and third U.S.-born, selected in the 2020 NHL Draft to appear in 50 career games.
– David Rittich stopped 26 of 27 shots faced to earn his seventh win of the campaign and improve his season record to 7-2-3.

The LA Kings will not practice tomorrow in Boston. The team will return to the ice on Saturday, February 16 at 12:30 PM local time, 9:30 AM Pacific time, at TD Garden against the Bruins.

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