The Devils' playoff position hopes took another unfortunate blow when they wrapped up their West Coast trip. They took a 5-1 loss playing against the Los Angeles Kings at the Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, March 3rd. Timo Meier scored the lone goal for New Jersey, and Phillip Danault scored his second career hat trick for the Kings.
Devils lineup against the Kings:
Meier - Hischier - Bratt
Palat - Hughes - Toffoli
Lazar - Haula - Mercer
MacDermid - Nosek - Holtz
Siegenthaler - Nemec
Bahl - Marino
Hughes - Miller
Daws
Schmid
Kings lineup against the Devils:
Turcotte - Kopitar - Byfield
Moore - Danault - Fiala
Anderson-Dolan - Dubois - Laferriere
Lizotte - Lewis
Moverare - Doughty
Gavrikov - Roy
Englund - Spence
Clarke
Talbot
Rittich
Just 15 seconds into the first period, Timo Meier gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead with his 13th goal of the season. A clearing attempt by Quinton Byfield deflected to Nico Hischier, and he quickly fed Meier, who scored a backhand from the left circle. Phillip Danault tied it at 12:04 after receiving a pass from Kevin Fiala, who had just come off the bench, then beat Nico Daws on a breakaway with a wrister from the slot. Putting the Kings in front 2-1 with his ninth goal of the season later into the first, Alex Laferriere struck from the top of the right circle with a snap shot.
Phillip Danault got his second of the night and his 13th goal of the season, pushing it 3-1 in the second frame. Matt Roy sent Danault a cross-crease pass and scored off the rush from the left post. Making it a 4-1 game at 7:03 with a power play goal, Kevin Fiala put in a one-timer from the left circle off a pass by Quinton Byfield from below the goal line. After this goal, Nico Daws was pulled and Arika Schmid was put in the net for the Devils.
Late into the final frame, Phillip Danault completed his hat trick at 2:13 when he struck the empty net. This was Danault's second NHL career hat trick, as well as his first in three seasons with the Los Angeles Kings.
Timo Meier on the frustration of losing, knowing that time is ticking down: "It's definitely frustrating. We had a good start... they're a good team, we gave them a few goals, and we weren't able to battle back. It's kind of the same story again," - "... Realize when you've given them a goal, just go out there, try to have a good shift, and simplify your game a little bit. We didn't do enough to win this game... Gotta go home and focus on the next one. I mean, you got to go now, we can't wait any longer. We're at the edge and now we got to start."
Erik Haula on what needs to happen as time is counting down for the team: "We make it definitely harder, hard on ourselves. So it's really frustrating knowing coming on this trip where we're at in the standings... I don't think it's about effort, it's more between the ears. We kind of keep shooting ourselves in the foot. We keep making similar mistakes and at this time of the year, it's going to hurt you."
Notes:
- Jonas Siegenthaler has played 300 NHL career games.
- Kurtis MacDermid made his New Jersey Devils debut after he had been acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Friday. He had one shot during 3:10 of ice time.
- Nico Daws saved nine on 13 shots before being pulled... Arika Schmid took Daws' place in the net, making nine saves in relief.
- Kevin Fiala had a three-point night (one goal, two assists)... Cam Talbot made a total of 30 saves for Los Angeles.
Fiala extended his three-game streak with eight points (three goals, five assists)... Anze Kopitar recorded an assist to give him five points during his four-game streak (one goal, four assists). Both Kopitar and Drew Doughty assisted Fiala's goal, making this the 300th time they've been involved in the same goal... Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey were involved in 350 goals, being the most by a forward and defenseman in NHL history. Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr are second, being involved in 306.
*All photos used by the New Jersey Devils used with permission*
Comments
Post a Comment