Kings’ 3 Game Win Streak Snapped in 5-2 Loss Against Devils

Someone was bound to have their three-game win streak ended Saturday night, and as it turned out, that team was the Los Angeles Kings.

First Period:

The Kings opened the scoring 6:32 in. Adrian Kempe threaded a nice pass to Kevin Fiala on the back door for an easy tap-in goal. The Devils then equalized roughly six minutes later with a power-play tally of their own. Tomas Tatar banged home a Jack Hughes rebound.

The Kings heavily outshot the Devils in period one, ending with 15 shots to the Devil's six. Despite the big gap in shots, it was a tight period. With the Kings' 1.51 expected goals just edging the Devils 1.24.

Second Period:

The second period turned out much different than the first. 2:47 the Kings were caught being too aggressive in the offensive zone, allowing a Dawson Mercer pass to beat their forecheck and send Erik Haula on a two-on-one. Haula elected to shot, beating Quick blocker side. 

The Kings then tied the game four minutes later with an Anze Kopitar power-play goal. Kopitar tipped a Drew Doughty shot. 

About a minutes later, Quick was beaten by Nikita Okhotiuk from a tight angle, a goal he'll want back. Another tight-angle shot from a similar spot from Jonas Siegenthaler nearly beat Quick, but after a lengthy review, it was determined there wasn't conclusive evidence the puck crossed the goal line. 

The Kings possibly got away with one, as the puck appeared to have crossed the goal line, however, just a few minutes later the Devils would get their fourth goal off a Ryan Graves point shot that was deflected off Sean Walker in front.

The Kings got back into the game, with Kempe nearly scoring on two occasions and Fiala coming close from in tight. But, they were unable to score and finished the second down 4-2. 

After two periods the Kings were outshooting the Devils 26 to 13 and had 2.84 expected goals to the Devils' 1.89.

Third Period:

Things slowed down in the third period, as the Devils were content with shutting the game down and seeing out their two-goal lead. 

The Kings were given a big chance when a lucky bounce gave Fiala a clean breakaway. Fiala was hauled down by Brendan Smith, giving the Kings' leading scorer a penalty shot. 

On the subsequent penalty shot, Fiala was denied by Mackenzie Blackwood, keeping the game at 4-2. 

The Kings pulled the goalie with three minutes left but failed to register a shot for nearly two minutes before Jesper Bratt stuck a dagger in the Kings with an empty net goal. 

The Kings outshot the Devils 37 to 28 and finished with 4.02 expected goals to New Jersey's 3.73.

The Kings have a four-day break before their next game against the Dallas Stars Thursday, Jan. 19.