In Anaheim, Jonathan Quick made 29 saves and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Ducks, 2-1, on Tuesday night.
“He feels real good in the net right now, and we feel good with him in the net,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said.
The Kings improved to 41-27-10, and are now just two points back of the Edmonton Oilers for second in the Pacific Division.
“If we expect to play a couple of weeks from now, we have to be comfortable [in one-goal games],” Quick said. “Especially this time of the year, these games are more frequent.”
Adam Henrique had the Ducks lone goal in the loss.
“When I think of the Kings-Ducks rivalry, I think of Gibson and Quick,” Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. “I thought they were both going at it. It was very reminiscent of battles of the past. I thought Quick was very good, and ‘Gibby’ was right there matching him.”
Anaheim dropped to 30-34-14.
Adrian Kempe scored for the Kings in the middle frame to give them a 1-0 lead.
“Found the loose puck and just tried to get it on net,” Kempe said. “It was a little bit of a roller, so the goalie wasn’t really expecting where it was coming. Good shot.”
Henrique tied it in the second period.
“We were a little more connected in the second (period),” Henrique said. “We were able to put pressure on them and get sustained (offensive) zone time and then that leads to a few power plays. That’s how we have to play for 60 minutes, not just that middle frame and bits of pieces of the rest of the game.”
Phillip Danault scored with 32 seconds gone in the third period for the winner, 2-1.
“Looks like he’s been here before,” McLellan said of Quick. “Made huge saves. … Made them when he needed to, settled us down. That’s what you expect from your goaltender at this time of the year.”
“We dug in at the end,” McLellan said. “It was a fairly evenly played game.”
John Gibson made 26 saves in the Ducks loss.
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