New Jersey Devils dominate Los Angeles Kings in shootout 2-1 -NHL Match Update
New Jersey earned its second straight win as Los Angeles lost their second consecutive matchup as the Devils dominated the Kings, 2-1, in a shootout decider, Thursday night, October 13, 2011, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, United States.
The new look Kings have not been able to win a single matchup since their home opener against New York Rangers in Stockholm, Sweden, making this contest against New Jersey their first in the North American continent.
Kings got off to a strong start with an early goal but could not maintain or either extend their lead as the match progressed.
"The energy was there for a little while in the first period", Kings head coach, Terry Murray, said about his clubs performance in the initial 20 minutes. "After we got into the second and the third, I thought we hit a bit of a wall. I thought our legs left us and our energy was low".
Simon Gagne scored his first of the new 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season on an assist from Justin Williams in the opening two minutes of the initial period.
Patrik Elias answered back for New Jersey over the midway point of the period, ending it with both team’s levelled, 1-1.
Throughout the game, only two penalties were given as Cam Janssen gave LA their first power play chance in the first, while Dustin Brown went out in the second for holding but Devils were unable to capitalise on it.
Devils outshot LA by a wide 37-27 difference, but respective goalies, Johan Hedberg and Jonathan Quick remain concrete in the net to stop the remaining attempts in their tracks.
A shootout was evident after both teams failed to score in the overtime extension. Devils scored on both of their shootout attempts with Zach Parise ending LA’s chances by scoring the second straight.
"You always have a few different moves that you like to go to and I felt like that move (high backhand into top right corner) was the best against (Jonathan Quick) … so I went with that one", Parise said about his attempt. "I felt that was my best option".
New Jersey Devils play against Nashville Predators on Saturday while Los Angeles Kings face-off with Philadelphia Flyers the same day.
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