Devils set road record in victory against Kings

LOS ANGELES --The New Jersey Devils became the first team in NHL history to win 17 of their first 20 road games when they defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Jack Hughes had two assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 35 saves for the Devils (28-12-3), who are 17-2-1 away from Prudential Center, including winning six straight.
"Especially on the road, when you can win hockey games, it's a lot more enjoyable and a lot more fun and brings the group together," New Jersey forward Erik Haula said.
The Devils have also won four straight overall and are 6-1-1 in their past eight.
"We're just trying to win each night," New Jersey defenseman Ryan Graves said. "We know where we are in the standings, and we've let it slip a little bit at home. … So we need to be good on the road to keep pace, so that's kind of what our focus is."

Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala scored for the Kings (25-15-6), who had won three in a row. Jonathan Quick allowed four goals on 27 shots.
"I don't think it was disappointing that we didn't show up tonight and play good enough. I think it was disappointing that we didn't score on our chances," Los Angeles forward Adrian Kempe said. "Power play was good. We didn't get enough at 5-on-5 I guess, and that's a different type of frustration tonight."
Fiala put the Kings ahead 1-0 at 6:32 of the first period, tapping in a backdoor pass from Kempe on a power play.
Tomas Tatar tied it 1-1 at 12:51 with his own power-play goal, scoring from the slot after the rebound of Hughes' shot bounced off Nico Hischier.
Haula gave the Devils a 2-1 lead at 2:37 of the second period when he elected to shoot from the right circle on a 2-on-1.
"I think we could say that we got away with the first a little bit," Haula said. "They put us on our heels, and [Blackwood] was fantastic today. So we came in here 1-1, and then we just figured it out."
Kopitar tied it 2-2 at 6:48 on a power play, but Nikita Okhotiuk responded to put New Jersey back in front 3-2 at 7:40 with a shot from the edge of the left circle that went under the right arm of Quick.
"We'd gone a spell there, we were giving stuff up real quick, and we'd cleaned that up significantly, in my opinion," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "But 82 games, there's going to be nights when it comes back to haunt you, and tonight was one of them."
Graves made it 4-2 at 10:57 when his bouncing shot from the left point redirected in off Kings defenseman Sean Walker.
"Kind of a freaky goal, a fluky goal, I guess, of mine that finds a way in," Graves said. "It makes a team hard to beat when you're getting scoring from areas you don't usually get it from."
Blackwood kept it a two-goal game when he saved Fiala's penalty shot at 7:19 of the third period.

Jesper Bratt then scored into an empty net at 18:56 for the 5-2 final.
"[Blackwood's] battled hard to get back coming off injury," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "I thought the save on the penalty shot was a big moment in the game, but he probably had four or five key saves at key times. That was really, really important again for us to win."
NOTES: Hughes has 54 points (28 goals, 26 assists), the most in Devils history through 43 games. He has 18 multipoint games this season. … The Devils have already surpassed their win total from 2021-22, when they went 27-46-9. … Graves has five points (one goal, four assists) during an NHL career-high four-game point streak. … Kopitar became the fourth player in Kings history to score 200 goals at home, joining Luc Robitaille (322), Marcel Dionne (288) and Dave Taylor (233). … Drew Doughty had two assists. It was his 111th multipoint game, tying Rob Blake for most by a defenseman in Kings history.