After ending a personal losing streak, the Los Angeles Kings’ Jonathan Quick has been improving in form and outcome and made 27 saves Thursday night in a 5-2 win over the Capitals in Washington.
Trailing 2-1 in the second period, the Kings struck twice in nine seconds to take a 3-2 
lead and never look back.
Jonny Brodzinski and Jussi Jokinen, scored the two goals in quick succession.
“It kind of changed the whole hockey game,” Jokinen said. “Being down 2-1, then in a nine-second span being up 3-2. It gave a big lift to our hockey team, and we didn’t have to chase the game anymore. They had to chase the game.”
Marian Gaborik scored the first two goals of the season for himself after playing in fourth game since his return to the lineup.
“[Gaborik has] been terrific. … He’s had three really good games for us,” Kings coach John Stevens said. “He and [Adrian] Kempe seem to have some good chemistry together. And I thought in a really heavy game tonight, he played really hard. It’s fitting that he got a couple of goals.”
Tyler Toffoli added a second empty-netter late to seal it.
Both Caps goals came from Evgeny Kuznetsov.
“I don’t think it’s a bad game for us,” Kuznetsov said. “It’s a bad result, yeah, but we can learn a lot and we can take a lot of those moments we have. We used a lot of [defensemen] shots and we [had] some opportunities. We just have to score. That’s about it. They scored and we did not. We’ll be better for sure.”
After taking the lead, LA clamped down on the defense and managed to keep the Caps out of quality scoring range.
“I’ve never been so tired in my whole entire life,” LA’s Drew Doughty said. “I felt like I spent the entire game in my own zone playing against that [Alex] Ovechkin line. But it was a great battle. All four lines, all six [defensemen], [Quick] played great. It was just a full team effort, and that’s why we won.”
[WATCH: All Kings vs. Capitals highlights]
Braden Holtby made 22 saves in the loss.
“It’s a 3-2 game. They get two goals in nine seconds. Against the top defensive team in the League, you’re playing with danger,” Caps head coach Barry Trotz said.
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