Kings and Quick moving on up
Team earns two key points and goalie’s win puts him third among U.S.-born netminders.
KINGS 3
N.Y. ISLANDERS 2
ELMONT, N.Y. — Phillip Danault, Arthur Kaliyev and Gabriel Vilardi scored in the second period and the Kings ended a two-game skid by defeating the New York Islanders 3-2 on Friday night.
Jonathan Quick made 16 saves for his 370th career victory, moving into 19th place on the NHL’s all-time list. Quick also surpassed Tom Barrasso for the third-most wins by a U.S.-born goaltender, trailing only John Vanbiesbrouck (374) and Ryan Miller (391).
“I immediately think of all the great teams I’ve been a part of,” Quick said. “... The guys that are at the top of the list were unbelievable goaltenders for a long time, just to kind of be in a category with them is an honor and
humbling.”
Noah Dobson and Adam Pelech scored, and Ilya Sorokin finished with 25 saves, but the Islanders’ two-game winning streak ended as they fight for a playoff spot in a tightly contested Eastern Conference wild-card race.
The Kings scored their three goals in a span of 5:34 to take a 3-0 lead.
“We started to shoot the puck,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said, citing that as a key reason the game tilted in his team’s direction. “The shot pulls people out of position. I didn’t think we did enough of that in the third period.”
Danault opened the scoring when he put home a rebound at 6:40 of the second frame after Viktor
Arvidsson hammered a slap shot.
The Kings took advantage of Sebastian Aho’s neutral-zone miscue to double their lead 1:25 after Danault’s goal. Rasmus Kupari gained control of the puck misplayed by Aho and beautifully fed Kaliyev for an easy one-time finish.
Vilardi notched his 18th of the season at 12:14 to cap the Kings’ assertive stretch. The forward launched a onetimer that sailed past the blocker of Sorokin.
“I thought we played better tonight with a lead,” Danault said. “We were playing on our toes more than our heels.”