Game 55; 33-19-3

NEWARK, N.J. — It was an early Valentine’s Day matinee as the Los Angeles Kings were looking to win consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 24. Unfortunately, that will have to wait as they fell to the New Jersey Devils 1-0 at the Prudential Center on Sunday.

This game was a defensive battle through and through as it was the Devils who opened the scoring on a fluky-looking goal in the first, just four seconds into a power play. There, defenseman David Schlemko took a point shot that bounced and trickled past a screened Jhonas Enroth to give New Jersey the early lead. The goal was scored at 5:19 of the opening frame from Travis Zajac.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images

The Kings outplayed the Devils in this one, outshooting them by a 28-15 while outchancing them 8-1 in the third. Unfortunately, rookie netminder Keith Kinkaid had an answer for every Los Angeles chance as he picked up his first-career shutout in the victory.

For the Kings, Dustin Brown led with five hits while rookie Kevin Gravel, in his third game, had one shot and one hit in 11:52 of total ice time.

The Kings are now off until Tuesday when they will visit the league’s best team, and a few familiar faces, in the Washington Capitals.