Photo: Andrew MacLean
The New Jersey Devils bounced back in a big way on Saturday night, ending their post-eight-game-win-streak slump with a decisive 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. The win was a critical rebound effort following a tough two-game skid, and it was anchored by a phenomenal performance from veteran goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who turned aside a massive 43 shots in his first start since signing a new two-year contract extension. Offensively, the Devils got a huge third-period boost from forward Dawson Mercer, who netted two shorthanded goals—including an empty-netter—to secure his second consecutive multi-goal game. Nico Hischier opened the scoring early in the first period, and the night also featured a celebration of young talent, with defenseman Luke Hughes recording an assist for his 100th career NHL point and forward Brian Halonen potting his first-ever NHL goal in his 12th career game.
New Jersey Devils Lineup:
Noesen - Hughes - Bratt
Palat - Hischier - Gritsyuk
Meier - Lammikko - Mercer
Cotter - Glendening - Halonen
Siegenthaler - Hamilton
Dillon - Hughes
Cholowski - Nemec
Markstrom
Allen
Los Angeles Kings Lineup:
Kuzmenko - Kopitar - Kempe
Fiala - Byfield - Armia
Moore - Danault - Laferriere
Malott - Turcotte - Perry
Dumoulin - Doughty
Edmundson - Clarke
Anderson - Ceci
Kuemper
Forsberg
The Devils struck first, early in the first period at 18:38, Nico Hischier put New Jersey on the board 1-0 for his third goal of the season. Joel Edmundson, who was on the right side of the net, sent the puck down for Kevin Fiala, but the puck bounced off his stick, and Luke Hughes collected it, firing it, and Hischier redirected the shot past Darcy Kuemper. Los Angeles nearly knotted it up 1-1 at 14:40 by a sharp-angle shot by Jeff Malott, but it went through the open crease, and Dennis Cholowski tied up Corey Perry to prevent him from tapping it into an empty net at the right post.
Brian Halonen found the back of the net for his first NHL goal, making it 2-0 off the rush, beating Kuemper with a sharp-angle shot glove side in the middle frame at 16:48. It was his first goal and point in 12 career games.
Dawson Mercer extended the lead to 3-0 on a 2-on-1 rush at 16:51 of the third with Hischier when he fired a short-handed wrister from the left face-off circle. The Kings made sure they didn't get shutout by Markstrom when Andrei Kuzmenko cut the lead 3-1 with 10:11 on the clock when he took a centering pass from Anze Kopitar from the corner, who received a back-handed pass from Alex Laferriere from along the left wall, then sent it to Kuzmenko for a chip shot from the low slot. With 3:48 remaining in the third and Kuemper pulled for an extra attacker, Mercer went for the 4-1 final when he struck the empty net during the Kings' power play... Markstrom had the primary assist.
Notes:
- Luke Hughes recorded his 100th NHL career point when he assisted on Nico Hischier's opening goal. Hughes earned his 100th point in 167 games, becoming the fastest defenseman in Devils team history to hit the century mark. He passed Brian Rafalski (176). ...Hughes required the second-fewest games (167) among defensemen to debut with the franchise to reach 100 points, behind Barry Beck (137).
- Jacob Markstrom made a total of 43 saves for New Jersey after signing a two-year, $12 million contract on Friday. An average annual value of $6 million... beginning with the 2026-27 season.
- Dawson Mercer scored two short-handed goals, joining Alexander Semak (October 16, 1993) as the second player in franchise history to score multiple short-handed goals in a game. ...The Devils went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, which combined with Mercer's goals were the difference in the game, said Sheldon Keefe. ...During a three-game scoring streak, Mercer has five goals.
- The Devils are 6-0-0 when scoring first.
- Darcy Kuemper made a total of 18 saves for Los Angeles.
- The Kings ended a seven-game point streak (4-0-3).
- So far this season, the Kings have yet to win a game on home ice.
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