Devils Shutout in L.A. | GAME STORY

LOS ANGELES, CA - The year 2025 did not start out on the right foot for New Jersey, shutout 3-0 by the L.A. Kings on Wednesday afternoon.

Andre Lee opened the scoring of the game and of 2025 with the first goal of his NHL career.

Trailing 1-0, the Devils thought they had the game tied up when Timo Meier scored through traffic in the slot. The Kings decided to challenge the play for goaltender interference, with Stefan Noesen sitting high in the blue paint and battling Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, making contact with L.A. netminder Darcy Kuemper.

The play was deemed goaltender interference, the NHL Situation Room saying Noesen *"impaired Darcy Kuemper’s ability to play his position in the crease prior to Timo Meier’s goal."*

“The explanation I was given was I was in, I was out and then the stick was in there," Noesen said, visibly frustrated. "But you clearly see him bring the stick in there and I don’t bring it out with me. I’m over it.”

“We watch every single one of these that go on around the league,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Once I saw it, I had a pretty good sense that they would challenge it. And it’s one of those that can really go either way, depending on how they want to interpret it at that time. I think you could explain it one way or the other, whether he was pushed in and affected, but there’s a bump there and usually those ones don’t go your way.”

The Devils and Kings exchanged chances in the second period and it wasn't until mid-way through the third that the Kings would extend their lead.

“It’s a close game, we didn’t execute on the chances that we had or maybe left them off the hook a little bit,” Keefe said. “Some of these 2-on-1’s that we had or did kind of break free. It’s a hard fought game, maybe ran out of gas a bit there in the third period but there’s a lot to like about the game here today, certainly in comparison to yesterday.”

Quinton Byfield gave the Kings a 2-0 lead at 11:01 of the third and with Jake Allen pulled for an extra attacker with 4:30 to play, Adrian Kempe hit the back of the net to extend L.A.'s lead to 3-0.

New Jersey has lost three consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season.

Here are some observations from the game:

• In the four home games that the Kings played in December, their power play has been lethal, firing at a 71.4 percent efficiency. The Devils managed to contain the Kings home man-advantage, going 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

• The L.A. Kings are known for being rather stingy in giving up shots on home ice this season. Heading into the game against the Devils, L.A. averaged 22.7 shots in 15 home games. New Jersey reached 15 shots on the Kings by the end of the first period while limiting the Kings' opportunities.

The 15 shots the Kings conceded were the most in a first period this season at home for L.A. New Jersey had a 30-shot performance in their shutout loss.

L.A. is averaging 27.7 shots on home ice and was held to just eight in the first period and four in the second before dominating in the shot department in the third with 12. L.A. finished with 24 shots, total.

• Jake Allen made 20 saves on 22 shots. Allen had to be particularly sharp at the beginning of the third period, the Devils trailing 1-0, making six saves in the first two minutes of the third to keep the Devils within a goal.

Comparatively, the Kings had 12 shots combined in the first and second periods.

"He was a rock, he was giving us a chance all night, on a night where I felt like we needed it,” Johnathan Kovacevic said of Allen's performance. “We gave up too many odd-man looks, too many clean looks and Jake was awesome for us. It’s dissapointing, when Jake comes in like that we want to get him a win, at least some run support, so yeah, it sucks.”

• Kings captain Anzer Kopitar took his first penalty of the season, hauling down Devils defenseman Luke Hughes in the first period.

• Ondrej Palat left the game late in the third period when he was struck in the face with a high-stick and bleeding from his face. The Devils were awarded a four-minute power play to end the game but could not convert on their chances.

• The Devils officially hit the season's halfway mark, completing their 41st game of the year. At the halfway mark, the Devils have a record of 24-14-3.