Iginla, Kings fend off young Canucks
LOS ANGELES 2 VANCOUVER 0
VANCOUVER — Jarome Iginla scored the 625th goal of his NHL career to tie Joe Sakic for 15th all-time, and Jonathan Quick made 35 saves for his second shutout of the season as the Los Angeles Kings blanked the Vancouver Canucks 2-0 on Friday night.
Tyler Toffoli also scored for Los Angeles (37-33-7), which is clinging to minuscule playoff hopes and now sits eight points back of the Nashville Predators for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Los Angeles and Nashville each have five games remaining on the schedule.
Ryan Miller made 24 stops for Vancouver (30-38-9), which was eliminated from post-season contention last week and was shut out for the 10th time this season.
Iginla broke a scoreless tie on the power play at 12:48 of the second period by deflecting a shot from Alec Martinez past Miller for his 14th of the season and third goal in as many games. It was also Iginla’s fourth game-winning goal of the season and the 101st of his career.
Acquired from Colorado prior to the NHL trade deadline, the 39-year-old has six goals in 14 games with Los Angeles after scoring just eight times in 61 contests with the Avalanche.
Toffoli doubled the Kings’ lead 3:50 later on a 3-on-2 rush, beating Miller high over the blocker with a perfect shot off the crossbar and in for his 19th.
The Canucks — now 2-8-2 over their last 12 games — had a great chance to jump in front less than two minutes into the second on a power play of their own, but rookie forward Brock Boeser, who came in with two goals in his first three NHL games, missed a wide open net with Quick out of position.
The Kings were coming off a 4-1 victory in Calgary after picking up just one win over their last five (1-4-0), a stretch that helped put the club’s playoff hopes on life support.
Quick, who missed 59 games this season with a groin injury, picked up the 44th shutout of his career after going 4-4-0 over his last nine starts, with 16 goals against over that span.
The Kings goalie made a nice pad save on Canucks defenceman Luca Sbisa from the slot about five minutes into the third.
Miller kept the Canucks in it midway through the period when he stopped Adrian Kempe all alone in front on a 2-on-1 break before Quick stoned Daniel Sedin moments later.
Flames 5, Sharks 2
CALGARY — Matt Stajan’s first goal in 24 games was part of a threegoal second period as the Calgary Flames clinched a playoff spot Friday night with a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
Less than five minutes after San Jose cut its deficit to 2-1, Michael Stone’s slap shot hit Martin Jones in the shoulder and popped into the slot where the rebound was swatted in by Stajan for his sixth goal of the season.
It’s just the second trip to the playoffs in eight seasons for Calgary. After going two rounds in 2015 under coach Bob Hartley, the Flames had a disappointing season last year and finished 26th overall. Hartley was fired after the season and replaced by Glen Gulutzan.
Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Alex Chiasson and Sam Bennett, into an empty net, also scored for Calgary (44-30-4).