The Los Angeles Kings bounced back from a dismal effort over the weekend with a solid 3-0 win over the visiting Calgary Flames.
Jonathan Quick made 23 saves in the win as the Kings moved into the first wild card spot in the Western Conference.
The loss eliminated the Flames as they have sagged going down the stretch.
Anze Kopitar and Dion Phaneuf staked LA to a 2-0 lead in the middle frame.
“I guess this time of year, it doesn’t really matter how you do it, but you got to figure out ways to win, and we did that tonight,” Kopitar said.
For Calgary, it is all about the offense, or rather lack thereof.
In their five losses they have shutout three times and are suffering from their top scorers out of the lineup.
“You can see that we’re a little bit dependent on some of our top guys to create most of our offense, and that’s an issue that is coming to light a little bit,” Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said.
The Phaneuf was his fourth since joining the Kings and all have come on the power play.
“The key on power play, if you get people to the net, and you get opportunities for lanes to the net, and you shoot the puck early, it really forces the penalty killers to turn and face their net,” LA head coach John Stevens said. “Once Dion shot the first one there, it really had a ripple effect where guys were looking to move the puck quick and get it to the net.”
Jeff Carter scored his 10th of the season on the power play in the thid period.
“We haven’t been the greatest home team, but we still have fate in our hands. That’s the position we want to be in and we got to take care of business,” Kopitar said after the win.
[WATCH: All Flames vs. Kings highlights]
Mike Smith made 26 saves in taking the loss.
“I’m not blaming our guys,” Gulutzan said. “I think we made some mistakes on the penalty kill that we certainly have to address. We shouldn’t be making those mistakes at this time. However, the effort I’m not going to question. They battled.”
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