LOS ANGELES (AP) — Erik Haula, Nikita Okhotiuk and Ryan Graves scored in the second period, and the New Jersey Devils became the first NHL team to win 17 of its first 20 road games by defeating the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 on Saturday night.
Tomas Tatar had a power-play goal, Jesper Bratt scored an empty-netter and Jack Hughes had two assists as the surprising Devils improved to 17-2-1 on the road, including six straight wins. Mackenzie Blackwood made 34 saves, stopping a penalty shot by Kevin Fiala in the third period.
Fiala and Anze Kopitar scored on the power play, but Jonathan Quick allowed four goals on 27 shots and the Kings had their three-game winning streak snapped.
The Devils broke the game open with three goals in the second after both teams found the back on the net on the power play in the first.
Haula scored on a 2-on-1 rush 2:37 into the period to give New Jersey a 2-1 lead.
Kopitar tied it at 6:48 by tipping Drew Doughty’s shot from the blue line, but the Devils regained the lead 52 seconds later when Okhotiuk beat Quick under his right blocker on a long shot.
Graves made it 4-2 with 9:03 to go when his shot from the left point took an unexpected redirect off the skate of defenseman Sean Walker.
TRAVELING MAN
New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff is no stranger to success on the road. His 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres were one of five teams in league history to win 15 of their first 19 road games, a mark Ruff’s Devils surpassed with their 6-2 victory at Anaheim on Friday.
Buffalo ended up going 25-12-4 on the road and winning the Presidents’ Trophy before losing to Ottawa in the Eastern Conference Finals.
HOME SWEET HOME
Kopitar scored his 200th career goal on home ice, becoming the fourth player in franchise history to do so. He joined Luc Robitaille, who leads the Kings with 322 goals at home, Marcel Dionne (288) and Dave Taylor (233).
UP NEXT
Devils: At San Jose on Monday.
Kings: Host Dallas on Thursday night.
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