In Sunrise Friday night, Jonathan Quick rebounded from an early Panthers goal and made 35 saves to help the Los Angeles Kings to a 3-1 win over Florida.
“(He was) really solid,” Kings head coach John Stevens said. “I thought he was a calming force for us back there. Anytime there was maybe a little chaos about to start, he held on to pucks, get face-offs, get reorganized. He just looked like he was really solid and comfortable in the net, and I think he gave us a lot of confidence by him playing that way.”
Aaron Ekblad scored in the first period to stake the Panthers to the 1-0 lead.
“We won four of the last five, so I think we’re heading in the right direction, we just can’t have these slip-ups,” the Panthers’ Vincent Trocheck said. “Great teams don’t slip up, they play consistently, and that’s what we need to do right now.”
Nick Shore, Jonny Brodzinski and Anze Kopitar struck for the Kings who posted two goals in the middle frame to erase the deficit.
LA won the first of a seven-game roadie.
“It’s a big trip for us,” Shore said. “It was important that we didn’t look past tonight. This is the first game of the trip and it’s always way better when you start off with a win.”
The Kings improved to 30-18-5 and sit in second place in the Pacific.
“We played great,” Quick said. “That’s a really good hockey team, so to come in their building and get two points, you’ve got to play a great game. You need all 20 guys to play well, and we did.”
[WATCH:Â All Kings vs. Panthers highlights]
Harri Sateri made 23 saves in taking the loss; it was his fifth straight start.
“We had chance after chance after chance in the second period, and we missed. That was the difference in the game,” Panthers head coach Bob Boughner said after the loss.
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