The NHL’s best road team kept up their winning ways last night. After defeating the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 just 24 hours earlier, the New Jersey Devils took to the ice against the Los Angeles Kings for the second half of a back-to-back. Though they didn’t control play for good stretches, they took advantage of an off night from Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. The result? A 5-2 win and some road history against one of the top teams in the Western Conference. Here are four takeaways from the Devils’ fourth straight victory and their 17th road win in 20 tries.
Devils Forced Quick to Make Saves
Though the Devils finished the game with four non-empty net goals, it’s not as if they created a ton of chances. They totaled 28 shots on goal but only generated 1.56 expected goals at five-on-five. Fortunately for them, Quick had an off night in net. He should’ve stopped Nikita Okhotiuk’s marker, which ended up going down as the game-winner, and Ryan Graves’ tally as well.
The Devils seemed to realize that Quick was having an off night too. Okhotiuk’s goal was a harmless wrister that went right through the Kings’ goaltender, while Graves’ fired a shot from the point that bounced off the ice and right past Quick. They were both stoppable shots and ones that he’d surely like to have back.
Just like the Carolina Hurricanes game earlier in the week, Jonas Siegenthaler fired a sharp angle shot short side at Quick’s pad. The puck went under his pad and had to go to a video review. The result was no goal, as there was inconclusive evidence the puck crossed the line. But Siegenthaler recognized the Kings’ goaltender was struggling and just put a puck on net to force him to make a save.
Goaltending, as it can be on many nights, ended up being the deciding factor yesterday. The Kings were arguably the better team, but Quick gave the Devils a couple of freebies. Still, it’s a sign of a good team when they find ways to win games they shouldn’t, as the Devils did against the Hurricanes on Tuesday and the Kings yesterday.
Blackwood Stood Tall With Difficult Assignment
It’s not easy for a goalie in the modern NHL to go two weeks without making a start. But that’s what Mackenzie Blackwood had to do last night in Los Angeles. Making his first appearance since Jan. 1 against the Hurricanes, Blackwood had no easy task against a Kings team that has established itself as…
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