Andre Lee scores his 1st NHL goal, and the Kings blank the slumping Devils 3-0

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andre Lee scored his first NHL goal, Darcy Kuemper recorded his second shutout of the season and the Los Angeles Kings beat the New Jersey Devils 3-0 on Wednesday for their third straight win.

Quinton Byfield also scored for the Kings, and Adrian Kempe added an empty-netter with 4:25 to play. Kuemper made 32 saves for his 33rd career shutout.

Byfield, who has three goals and five points in the past three games, made it 2-0 at 11:01 of the third period. The forward came out of the penalty box and put a wrist shot past Jake Allen.

Lee opened the scoring 6:23 into the second period when he skated under a puck flung high up the ice by Jordan Spence and split two Devils defensemen to beat Allen. Lee, a 24-year-old Swedish forward drafted in the seventh round in 2019, finally scored in his 19th game after making his NHL debut in Los Angeles’ season opener Oct. 10.

Allen stopped 21 shots for New Jersey.

Takeaways

Devils: They’re halfway through a six-game road swing, and they’ve lost three straight in regulation for the first time this season. A day after they fell out of first place in the Eastern Conference, the Devils were shut out for the sixth time.

Kings: Extended their home winning streak to eight games. Los Angeles is 13-2-1 at Crypto.com Arena this season, with its .844 winning percentage being the highest in the league.

Key moment

Timo Meier appeared to even it for New Jersey in the second period, but his goal was taken off the board when the Kings successfully argued for goaltender interference against Stefan Noesen, who had been in Kuemper’s crease right before Meier scored.

Key stat

Kopitar picked up his first penalty of the season at 12:01 of the first period. Kopitar, the Lady Byng Trophy winner in 2016 and 2023, was given a two-minute minor for holding Luke Hughes.

Up next

Devils visit San Jose on Saturday, and Kings host Tampa Bay.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl