Suddenly in a dog-fight for the top spot in the Pacific Division, the Los Angeles Kings picked two big points Tuesday night with a 2-1 regulation win over the Calgary Flames.
Anze Kopitar scored the game-winner in the second period in his first game back from an injury.
“We didn’t play our best game, but at this time of the year it doesn’t really matter as long as you get the two points,” Kopitar said. “We certainly realize there’s room for improvement … we’ve got to continue building momentum at home and take care of business.”
Luke Schenn also scored for the Kings.
Calgary’s Joni Ortio made 35 saves in the loss.
“It seems like a lot of goalies are sharp against us lately,” Schenn said. “We were throwing lots of pucks on the net. A lot of goalies seem to be getting stars against us … if you have to win those 2-1 games, then that’s what it takes. But it definitely would be nice to get a little bit of goal scoring, for sure.”
Sean Monahan was the lone goal scorer for the Flames.
“He (Ortio) kept us in the game tonight,” Monahan said. “When your goalie plays like that, those are the games you should win for him. Unfortunately, tonight they came out on top.”
Ortio is up with the Flames because of an injury to Karri Ramo.
“I saw a lot of pucks,” Ortio said. “The only one I didn’t see was the first one. That’s how important it is. But I felt good throughout the night. Guys made it fairly easy on me. I don’t think we gave up that many grade-A scoring chances … that made my job easier too.”
Jonathan Quick made 22 saves for the win.
“It’s just ‘keep working,'” Flames coach Bob Hartley said. “Sometimes you get those bounces, sometimes you don’t. Like I said before, we can’t fault the effort in tonight’s game. We were a desperate bunch and could have deserved better.”
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