Scrivens solid again as Kings shut out Devils
NEWARK, N.J. -- After goaltender Jonathan Quick suffered a groin injury Tuesday, it left the Los Angeles Kings with a mostly inexperienced backup in Ben Scrivens to shoulder the load for the foreseeable future.
Through two games, Scrivens is proving he is up to the challenge.
Scrivens made 26 saves -- including 12 in the first period when the Kings were thoroughly outplayed -- in a 2-0 victory against the New Jersey Devils on Friday night at the Prudential Center.
The victory gives Scrivens two wins in two days. He turned aside 23 of 25 shots in a 3-2 comeback win against the New York Islanders on Thursday. That's a pretty solid showing for the other goaltender involved in the Maple Leafs-Kings trade this summer that sent Jonathan Bernier to Toronto.
It's not easy replacing a Vezina finalist and Conn Smythe Trophy-winning goaltender that receives the bulk of the playing time, but Scrivens has made the transition look seamless.
"You should be preparing. As a backup that's the hardest thing to do," Scrivens said. "It's a tough job, a tough gig. You work hard and you want your efforts to be shown to show you're ready. Unfortunately, as a backup a lot of times that doesn't come to fruition. But if you don't do that and a situation like this comes up, you've lost an opportunity to potentially give yourself a look somewhere else or give yourself a look here. There are only so many chances you get at this level so you've got to be ready. You never know when it's going to come."
Scrivens entered the season with 32 appearances over two seasons with the Maple Leafs, but he won over his new teammates rather quickly.
"We have the same confidence in Scrivy that we have in Quicky," Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. "He showed that he's an unbelievable goalie as well tonight. He played great. The other night he made some big saves. He played great tonight. We have that full confidence in him that if there's a breakdown, he's going to make that save."
Some of Scrivens' toughest stops against the Devils included a deft glove save on center Andrei Loktionov in the first period, another stop with the catching glove on winger Jaromir Jagr in the second period and a sprawling left leg save on center Adam Henrique early in the third period.
All three of those difficult saves came with the game scoreless, allowing time for left winger Dwight King to tally the deciding goal with 6:52 remaining in the third period.
Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin wristed a shot from the blue line. King parked himself in front of Devils goaltender Cory Schneider who stopped 19 of 20 shots in yet another tough-luck loss. Schneider had his vision impaired as King redirected the puck through his legs to make it 1-0.
"Obviously you don't expect to be wide open in front of the net, but as the game went on we had a little more opportunities in front of the net," said King, who is second on the team with six goals. "It took right until the end of the third period to get a goal and it was a big one for us."
The Devils had a chance to tie on a power play with 2:49 in regulation, but failed to score and had final eight seconds canceled when right wing Damien Brunner tripped center Trevor Lewis with Schneider at the bench for an extra attacker.
Kings center Anze Kopitar scored into an empty net with 2.9 seconds remaining, sealing the Devils' third shutout loss in seven games. In his past three starts, Schneider received a total of one goal of support.
"We all feel for him," Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. "I don't think he can do any more than he's doing. It's frustrating for all of us. He gave us another really good game again and he we don't give him any run support, so to speak."
NOTES: Kings C Jarrett Stoll returned to the lineup after missing four games with an upper-body injury. ... Kings C Jeff Carter, who has not played since Oct. 30, could miss an additional three weeks with the injury. ... Devils LW Patrik Elias played his first game since Oct. 29. He missed six games with back spasms, and the Devils scored 12 goals in his absence and were shut out twice. ... Devils D Anton Volchenkov, who left with a lower-body injury against the New York Rangers on Wednesday, was a scratch against the Kings.
