There’s a theme developing on the Kings current road trip and there’s also some positive momentum. Thursday night in New Jersey marked the second game in row since leaving LA that the club hasn’t been able to hold on to a lead. They also went from coming away empty handed in Minnesota to snagging a point in New Jersey off a 4-3 overtime loss.
Anze Kopitar opened up the scoring and a follow-up goal from Viktor Arvidsson had the Kings sitting on a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. New Jersey managed to cut the lead in half during the middle frame and they eventually tied it in the third period on a goal from Dawson Mercer.
Not so fast, though. Kopitar helped set up Sean Durzi late in regulation and the Kings were back on top, trying to nurse a one-goal lead to victory. Devils forward Nico Hischier had other ideas. He notched his 24th goal of the season with less than a minute remaining in regulation to tie the game again.
In overtime, the Devils were the more active team. Mercer buried his second goal of the night and sent New Jersey fans home happy.
Three Stats of The Game:
— Kopitar extended his current goals streak to four games and he continues to make history. He reached the 20-goal mark for the 12th time in his career, tying him for most 20-goal seasons in Kings history with Marcel Dionne, Luc Robitaille and Dave Taylor. Further, Kopitar joined Adrian Kempe (28) and Kevin Fiala (21) in the 20-goal club this season. Per NHL PR, the last time the Kings had three 20-goal scorers in fewer than 60 games played was the 2000-01 campaign (Ziggy Palffy, Luc Robitaille and Bryan Smolinski).
With his assist on Kopitar's goal, Adrian Kempe extended his point streak into career-long seventh game (8-4=12). He is the second Kings skater to establish a point streak of at least seven games this season (Phillip Danault, 7GP, 5-4=9, Dec. 17, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2022).
— LA Kings PR (@LAKingsPR) February 24, 2023
— Arvidsson could be next to join the 20-goal club. His goal in New Jersey was No. 17 on the year, along with his 40th point. He’s on pace to exceed his totals from last season, which saw him produce 20 goals and 49 points in his first year with the Kings.
Video Highlights:
Additional Post-Game Notes:
Trevor Moore was a late scratch from the game (upper-body injury). As such, coach Todd McLellan shifted his lines a bit, moving Kevin Fiala up to LW2 and moved Gabe Vilardi up to the third line. This allowed Jaret Anderson-Dolan to rejoin the lineup at LW4.
Coach McLellan will that one point tonight @LAKings | #LAKingsLive | @CarrlynBathe pic.twitter.com/wyCTz2ey07
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) February 24, 2023
STATS CHECK
Feels like Tatar always scores vs LA…
He doesn't though.
5 goals in 18 GP vs. LAMeanwhile…
His World Cup linemate, Anze Kopitar has 17 points in 24 GP vs NJ. And that's just the regular season.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) February 24, 2023
Devils give up the fourth fewest shots in the NHL and they didn't give up much at all tonight…
LA only had 22 SOG in 63min
Kings fall 4-3 in OT
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) February 24, 2023
Lead photo via NHL
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