With two teams breathing down their necks, the Los Angeles Kings have all the heat on them they can stand for the moment.
The resurgent Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks are winning and the Kings need to do the same.
Thursday night had the Montreal Canadiens in Staples Center for a match and the Kings found a way to add two points to the standings race with a 3-2 victory.
The Kings bolted out to an early 2-0 lead on goals from Anze Kopitar and Tanner Pearson and Dwight King added the game-winner.
Saturday features the Kings and Ducks for sole possession of first place in the Pacific.
“It’s going to be the biggest game of the year,” King said. “Everybody knows that going in, obviously. Everybody knows what’s on the line. Everybody’s aware of that. So it’s going to be, pretty much, playoff hockey.”
The Canadiens got goals from P.K. Subban and Lars Eller.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” King added. “Obviously the win is the only thing that matters. As long as we’ve got everyone building more confidence [with] 20 more games left or so heading into the playoffs.”
The Habs had a total of 15 shots on goal.
“You know why that team has had so much success, both this year and in the past,” Montreal’s Max Pacioretty said. “They just take away your time and space. Going up against Kopitar and [defenseman Drew] Doughty, I felt like there was no room out there … they just outplayed us tonight.”
Jonathan Quick had 13 saves in the win.
“We didn’t give up much,” coach Darryl Sutter said. “They had just a handful of chances. Three [goals] is enough to win, and they were probably fortunate to get two on us.”
Ben Scrivens took the loss on 28 saves.
“They came out focused and they executed well early on,” Scrivens said. “It took us a little bit to get into the game. I thought they executed on two well set-up plays.”
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