Quick, Kings on brink of Cup title
LOS ANGELES — This is probably what the late Jack Kent Cooke had in mind 45 years ago when he located an NHL expansion team in Southern California.
Today, there is a buzz about ice hockey in the land of sand, sunshine and starlets. The Los Angeles Kings’ bandwagon is full because Wednesday (8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network) they have an opportunity to win their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.
“If we win one more game, I hope the San Andreas fault can take it,” Kings forward Dustin Penner said.
A Staples Center NHL-record crowd of 18,764 watched Jonathan Quick record 22 saves to post his third shutout of the postseason and spark the Kings to a 4-0 win Monday against the New Jersey Devils. Los Angeles leads 3-0 in the best-ofseven NHL championship series.
“This is a hockey town, but to make it a hockey town you have to win consistently,” said Justin Williams, who scored with Alec Martinez, Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter. “We want to instill something long term here.”
The Devils were 0-for-6 on the power play, including a 59-second 5-on-3 advantage. The Devils have managed to score two goals in the three games in the series.
“Penalty killing was a huge factor, our ability to stay with it,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. “It’s not easy when you’ve had that many penalties called against you.”
In the postseason, the Kings are 64-for-69 (92.8%) on the penalty kill, which is the league’s best percentage. They also have scored five short-handed goals.
The eighth-seeded Kings, the first team to lead all four of its series 3-0, are seeking the first Stanley Cup Final sweep since 1998.
“We certainly don’t want to get back on that plane,” Williams said.
LOS ANGELES — Goalie Jonathan Quick’s last name also serves as a scouting report on why the Los Angeles Kings goalie has produced the best playoff goalie numbers the NHL has seen in 83 years.
“He’s quick on rebounds. He’s fast,” New Jersey Devils center Travis Zajac said. “He gets out and plays pucks a lot. “He’s a great goalie.” Quick had a 22-save shutout in Monday’s 4-0 victory to lower his goals-against average to 1.36 and improve his save percentage to .950.
Quick’s postseason goalsagainst average is the best recorded by a Stanley Cup Final goalie, with a minimum of 10 games played, since Frank Brimsek’s 1.25 in 12 games for the Boston Bruins in 1939.
“He’s a little different than any other goalie we’ve faced so far,” Zajac said. “He plays low.”
The NHL didn’t start recording save percentages until 1968, and Quick has the best mark for that. Jacques Plante posted a .949 save percentage over 10 games for the St. Louis Blues in 1969. Plante and Brimsek are Hall of Famers.
With Quick’s play this season, the Milford, Conn., native undoubtedly has made himself a more attractive candidate for the USA’s No. 1 goalie job if NHL players go to the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
“He’s playing really well; there’s no secret there,” Devils captain Zach Parise said. “But I think as a team, they play really well defensively.
“They don’t give you a lot of opportunities . . . not to take anything away from Quick. He’s making the saves.”
The Devils talked before Game 3 about what they needed to do to have a breakthrough against Quick, who had given up two goals over the first two games.
“For us, it’s about getting more traffic,” Zajac said, “getting some more pucks to the net, try to test him a little bit more.”
Even though they did get chances at times, Quick was able to stop them. With 10 minutes left, while crouching down low, he lurched forward and got a glove on a shot by Zajac, who was all alone in front.
Overall, the Kings have surrendered 17 goals over their last 13 games to pull within a win of their first Stanley Cup championship.
“You need outstanding goaltending to win playoff games,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. “He’s given us that.”