Devils' Late Game Heroics Boost Win Over Kings, 3-1

Published: Friday, December 13, 2024

by Chris Jones

NEWARK, N.J - The New Jersey Devils snapped their two-game game losing streak with a dominating 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings last night. Jack Hughes was the star player for the Devils, tallying up one goal and 2 assists on the night. Hughes’ one goal was also the go-ahead goal in the third period to help his team extend their season record to 19-10-3.  

The first period did not show too much action, as both teams moved up and down the ice and repeatedly put on the pressure. But the crowd saw more pressure coming from the Devils, who forced Kings’ goaltender David Rittich to make nine saves compared to the Devils’ Jacob Markstrom with two.  

Just about four minutes into this period, Rittich had to make back-to-back saves, one shot coming from Dawson Mercer and the other from Jonas Siegenthaler. The ability of the Devils to continue to pressure at every point on the ice was prevalent, racking up their nine shots, while simultaneously holding the Kings to just two shots.  

Still, the Kings had moments very close to finding the back of the net, after hitting the post two times later in the period. Yet neither team were able to convert and add a goal, as it stayed tied up at zero heading into the first intermission.

As the second period began, the Rock started to see some of that same action that was seen in the first period; both teams were looking to find the opening goal. Brendon Dillon was called for a penalty, which gave the King’s their first power play of the night. Despite having a clear chance to take the lead, it ended up being a missed opportunity for Los Angeles.  

But it wasn’t too long until they came back looking to make up for that mistake. The period’s last few minutes came with a lot of action. With three minutes left, Jordan Spence gets his second goal of the season to open the scoring 1-0 for the Kings. But the Devils, playing at home in the Prudential Center, were not going to go down that easy. Two minutes later, Ondrej Palat evened the game up at one, as they went into the final period.

The third period was where the Devils were really able to turn it on. Both Jack Hughes and Brett Pesce got themselves on the stat sheet. Hughes’s goal came with seven minutes left to take the lead for the first time in this game. The cherry on top came from Pesce, who got his first goal of the season with almost 2:30 left in the period.

After only being able to score one goal in the last two games, New Jersey left the game tonight with three on the board, giving them great momentum heading into the next game. The New Jersey Devils will be back at the Prudential Center on December 14th where they will take on the Chicago Blackhawks at 1:00 p.m! 

Chris Jones can be reached at chris.jones@student.shu.edu.

 

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