Byfield scores late in 3rd, Kings edge Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -- Quinton Byfield scored a power-play goal late in the third period, and the Los Angeles Kings held on for a 2-1 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Thursday.

Byfield’s winner came after he knocked down a shot in the slot, before flipping in a wrist shot at the left post at 14:23.

"It was a great shot by (defenseman Brandt Clarke from the right point) and I kind of found the puck in traffic, knocked it down, and hit the pad," Byfield said. "I was able to get on the rebound there."

David Rittich made 26 saves in his fifth straight start for the Kings (25-16-10), who are 3-1-1 in their past five games. Rittich allowed five goals on 17 shots before being pulled from a 7-0 loss at the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.

"Buffalo was a tough one and I feel like we, myself included, weren't prepared," Byfield said. "We had a day to regroup and figure it out, get right back in the correct mindset. I felt like we had a really good start tonight and it just carried on throughout the whole game."

Tyler Toffoli scored, and Nico Daws made 27 saves in his third straight start for the Devils (27-22-4), who had won their two previous games.

"They played a stingy game and we did as well," Daws said. "I think it comes down to they got one more bounce and we didn't get it. You can't hang your head on that game. I thought we played pretty good."

The Devils will next face the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN360, TVAS2).

New Jersey and Philadelphia have split the first two of their four-game series this season. The Devils won 4-3 in overtime at Philadelphia on Nov. 30, and the Flyers won 3-2 in overtime at New Jersey on Dec. 19.

"The two games we played against the Flyers went to overtime and both were real hard competitive games," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "I think the hockey we've been playing has been hard compete. I felt tonight we didn't generate a lot offensively, but we've been missing out on some good opportunities."

Anze Kopitar gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 8:07 of the second period, scoring a short-handed goal on a backhand at the right post while following up a shot by Adrian Kempe from the slot.

"If you win the special teams battle, most often you win the game," Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. "Because there's not much else going on 5-on-5, it's so hard to score. That's a very dangerous power play so I thought despite giving one up, our penalty kill was really good, and we scored a big power-play goal."

Toffoli tied it 1-1 at 12:58 on a snap shot at the right post.

"I don't know if we shot it enough; I think we had opportunities," Toffoli said. "They did a good job of staying tight and not giving those shot opportunities. We were trying to adjust, and obviously we had one there, but when we have as many power plays as we did, we got to get a couple."

The Devils finished 1-for-5 on the power play.

Viktor Arvidsson had five shots on goal and nine shot attempts in 15:01 of ice time in his season debut for the Kings after missing the first 50 games following back surgery in October.

"He's just a ball of fire and plays with a lot of passion," Hiller said of Arvidsson. "I didn't know how he was going to do. I knew he would show passion, but I thought he played very well for being off that long, Not only was he energetic, but he was dangerous and looked like he hadn't missed a beat."

Said Arvidsson, "That's how I play. I got to play that way. It's been a tough two years. I've been out for almost 11 months out of two years. So, it's been a long road back and it was really nice to be back out there, feeling the competitiveness, being around the team and on the bench."

NOTES: Los Angeles is 2-1-0 under Hiller, who replaced Todd McLellan as coach on Feb. 2. ... Kopitar tied Luc Robitaille (69) for the second-most game-opening goals in Kings history. Marcel Dionne is first (70). ... Jack Hughes had an assist, his 152nd in the NHL to tie Scott Gomez for second most by a Devils/Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts player before age 23. Kirk Muller is first (210).