The Los Angeles Kings are doing that thing they always seem to do - well, outside of last year, at least. With just 19 games remaining in the 2015-16 NHL season, the Kings are only just rounding into form. They're big, they're bad, and they look very much like a group set to make some serious noise in a Western Conference field that's packed with competitors at the top, even as a number of also-rans drag themselves along to the finish.
And while a rough outing against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday seemed to leave Kings netminder Jonathan Quick a little rattled, his efforts on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens, while not necessarily Herculean, seem to bode well for the Kings' postseason push.
Quick put together a solid effort against the Habs, stopping 13 of the 15 shots he faced as the Kings skated away with a 3-2 victory. The win over the hapless Habs moves Quick's recent record to 4-1-0, which should buoy the hopes of fans in Los Angeles even farther than their standings in the Pacific.
But while Quick's night was encouraging, it was the play of Tanner Pearson and Anze Kopitar, the $80 million man, that ultimately brought the Kings to victory and kept them in a tie with the Ducks atop the Western Conference standings. Which is good news for the Kings, because the Ducks are suddenly red hot and will be chasing their 11th-straight victory against Los Angeles on Saturday after tying a franchise record with 10 wins in a row against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.
Kopitar got the scoring started less than a minute after puck drop when he tipped home Alec Martinez's slapper from the blueline. It was Kopitar's 19th marker on the season. Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty was shaken up on the play and still struggling to get back to the Habs bench when Kopitar deflected the shot past Ben Scrivens.
Tanner Pearson added to the Kings' lead less than three minutes later, beating Scrivens from the top of the right circle. The play started when underrated Kings star Jeff Carter won the faceoff from Tomas Plekanec. Kings coach Darryl Sutter put recent trade deadline addition Kris Versteeg on a line with Pearson and Carter.
As for Quick, he seemed to get better as the game wore on, but despite the Habs going almost 10 minutes without a shot, gave up a weak goal to P.K. Subban from distance with less than two minutes left in the first period.
