Without Jeff Carter it is difficult to conceive of where the Los Angeles Kings would be this season. On Wednesday night, Carter scored two more goals in a 5-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche.
Peter Budaj made 22 saves to get the shutout.
“Just playing up here this year, I think, is more than I can imagine,” said Budaj, who spent most of the 2015-16 season with Ontario of the American Hockey League. “I’m just thankful to be here. The team is playing great in front of me. We work tremendously hard to keep going and to give us a chance every night.”
Following a four-skid the Kings have now won four straight to improve to 26-21-4.
“That was a legitimate shutout tonight,” LA head coach Darryl Sutter said of Budaj’s effort.
Marian Gaborik, Dustin Brown and Dwight King also scored for the Kings.
The Avs have now lost nine straight and are 13-33-2 on the season.
“We did have some good looks for a stretch,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said. “For about a 15-minute stretch, we started generating a little bit. I thought Budaj was good though. They did a good job of keeping us off the net and making sure we didn’t get the traffic or screens we needed.”
Goalie Spencer Martin was called up from the San Antonio Rampage and after a rough first period (three goals on 11 shots) he settled down in facing 40 shots on the night.
WATCH: All Avalanche vs. Kings highlights
“Maybe we’re trying too much. I don’t know what to tell you. We’re trying as hard as we can, but for whatever reason, things aren’t going our way,” Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog
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