In Denver Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Kings were facing an Avalanche team that was missing their number one goalie in Semyon Varlamov who was injured Sunday.
As a result the Avs were hamstrung with rookie Calvin Pickard facing the desperate Kings; Pickard was chased after allowing three goals on just eight shots in less than 15 minutes of the first period.
Jonathan Quick picked up win in Denver on 21 saves 0 file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“It was a tough start for me,” Pickard said. “I had a few saves at the start, the deflection goes in, and I’m not into a great rhythm. They earned a couple of those goals, but I have to find a way to make at least one, maybe two more saves out of those three. The goals weren’t bad goals, but I have to find a way. I wasn’t getting many bounces going my way there early on and before I knew it there were three in the back of my net.”
Brayden McNabb had a stellar night for the Kings, picking up a goal and two assists to lead the Kings to the 5-2 win on the road.
“Playing playoff hockey right now,” McNabb said. “We’re in a dog fight. We have to bring it every game. It’s more urgent. We need to get points. It’s a little playoff series between (the teams in the) eight, nine and 10 spots. Something we’ve got to continue.”
Jonathan Quick made 21 saves for the win.
Marian Gaborik, Jeff Carter and McNabb scored in the first period to give the Kings a 3-1 lead heading to the second.
“They played well, I have to give them credit,” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. “This is a team that won two Stanley Cups in the last three years. I would say this: They’re healthier than us right now, and half of our team are watching the game on TV. When you play a team like this, it makes it even more of a difficult challenge.
“I’m disappointed that we lost, but our guys never gave up. As a coach, at times I have to draw a line where I’m looking at their lineup and I’m looking at our lineup. I would love to play them with a full lineup and see how we would play them.”
Kyle Clifford and Jake Muzzin also scored for LA.
“This time of year, we’ve got to play our best hockey,” Clifford said. “It’s one game at a time and points are huge. It’s playoff hockey. It’s not always going to be pretty, you just have to go to the net and we did that tonight.”
The Kings trail the Winnipeg Jets by one point for the final playoff spot in the west; the Jets lost in St Louis Tuesday.
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