Brett Pesce scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 3-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon at Prudential Center.
After a scoreless opening period, Los Angeles broke the tie at 15:57 of the second period. Scott Laughton beat goaltender Jake Allen with a wrist shot for his second goal of the season, assisted by Adrian Kempe and Andre Lee. New Jersey answered under three minutes later. Anthony Mantha converted a wrist shot at 18:43 off feeds from Jesper Boqvist and Evan Rodrigues, evening the score at 1-1 entering the second intermission.
Pesce gave New Jersey the lead at 8:08 of the third period with a wrist shot, earning his first goal of the season. Luke Evangelista and Arseny Gritsyuk collected the assists on the go-ahead tally. Gritsyuk later sealed the win with an empty-net wrist goal at 18:55, assisted by Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.
Allen stopped 12 of 13 shots to earn the victory for New Jersey, which held Los Angeles to 13 total shots on goal. Anton Forsberg made 23 saves on 25 shots in the loss for the Kings. Neither side found success on special teams, as both teams went 0 for 2 on the power play.
The victory was the third straight for the Devils, improving their regular-season record to 7-4-0. The loss dropped the Kings to 2-5-2.
Both teams continue their schedules on the road. The Kings visit the New York Rangers on Monday, while the Devils visit the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
