Credit: Chris O'Meara
So far, so good for the LA Kings eastern road trip and other news from around the NHL.
After suffering a defeat at home to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night, the LA Kings flew across the country to begin a six-game road trip with a game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Sunday night.
It was a re-match of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final in name only as most of the players who participated in that Final have since moved on. The Kings snapped a three-game losing streak by winning this game in come from behind fashion on a game-winning goal in the third period by Carl Grundstrom.
The next night, the Kings traveled across the Hudson River to Madison Square Garden to face one of the best teams in the NHL this season in the NY Rangers. The first NHL matchup between Quinton Byfield and Alexis Lafreniere proved to be one of the most exciting games of the season so far that went all the way to a shootout – won on a goal by Lafreniere after Byfield had scored just prior to him.
When your first NHL goal counts, but only sorta. @byfield55 🚨 pic.twitter.com/MmfDqVEXIt
— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 25, 2022
Despite the loss, Jonathan Quick turned in another “turn back the clock” performance, as the thirty-six-year-old netminder has played like he did during the Stanley Cup runs of 2012 and 2014.
- The LA Kings currently have 48 points and are in third place in the Pacific Division. They play in the brand new home of the NY Islanders, the UBS Arena, on Thursday night, before weekend games in the Keystone State against the Flyers on Saturday and Penguins on Sunday. They finish their road trip on Wednesday night in Detroit against the Red Wings.
- The NHL has a new “ironman” as on Tuesday night, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle played in his 965th consecutive game. In doing so, he broke Doug Jarvis‘s record of 964 consecutive games played – a record that stood for over thirty-five years. Yandle is playing in his sixteenth NHL season. He began his career during the 2006-07 season with the then-Phoenix Coyotes.
- Hall of Famer Clark Gillies passed away on Friday, January 21st at the age of 67. He was a key part of the NY Islanders’ four straight Stanley Cup championship teams from 1980-to 1983. In 14 NHL seasons, the rugged forward posted 319 goals, 378 assists, and 1,023 PIM.
- The NHL has released the rosters and Captains for each team for the All-Star Game to be held on February 5th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Captains were determined by a fan vote, and the fans have decided that Alex Ovechkin will captain the Metropolitan Division, Auston Matthews will captain the Atlantic Division, Nathan MacKinnon will captain the Central Division, and Connor McDavid will captain the Pacific Division. Adrian Kempe will represent the LA Kings in the game.