Kings vs. Boston: Kings win second in a row, 2-0
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Goals by Ryan Smyth and Andrei Loktionov and a brilliant game in goal by Jonathan Quick lifted the Kings to a 2-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday night before a Staples Center sellout crowd of 18,118.
The win, coupled with Saturday’s victory in Phoenix, gave the Kings back-to-back wins for the first time since Dec. 26-27. The Kings have lost 10 of 14 since then.
Smyth opened the scoring midway through the first period by knocking home his own rebound 34 seconds into a Kings power play. Then after a pair of clutch saves by Quick kept Boston from tying the score on a power play of its own in the opening minutes of the third period, Loktionov pushed another rebound past Boston goaltender Tim Thomas at 3:30 for his second goal of the season, giving the Kings some much-needed insurance.
And the Kings nearly got one more with 6:39 to play but Kyle Clifford, after taking a perfect pass in the slot, whiffed on a wide-open shot.
In recording his first shutout in nearly a month -- and the 13th of his career -- Quick faced 34 shots, the first time in eight games the Kings have allowed that many. The Kings also took 34 shots at Thomas.
Kings 2, Bruins 0 (end of second period)
The Kings peppered Tim Thomas with 12 shots in the second period but couldn’t get any of them past the Boston goaltender, forcing them to be content with a 1-0 lead heading into the second intermission.
But if the Kings were unlucky on the offensive end, they were fortunate in their own zone when Boston’s Zdeno Chara’s slap shot from the right circle toward an opener corner of the Kings’ goal bounced off the post and into the stands, wasting the Bruins’ best scoring chance of the game. The Kings also killed off a pair of Boston power plays, allowing only nine shots in the period.
Kings 1, Bruins (end of first period)
Ryan Smyth’s goal midway through the first period ended a seven-game power-play drought for the Kings and lifted them to a 1-0 lead over the Boston Bruins after one period tonight at Staples Center.
The Kings, who had whiffed on their previous 22 opportunities with a man advantage, scored only 34 seconds after Boston’s Zdeno Chara went to the penalty box for hooking. The scoring play started with Jarret Stoll launching a slap shot from just inside the blue line. Smyth got a stick on the shot but deflected it into the pads of Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. Smyth then took a couple of swipes at the rebound, batting it behind Thomas and into the net on his second try for his 18th goal of the season.
The Kings had a second power play in the final three minutes of the period but put the puck on goal just once. The Kings outshot the Bruins, 13-11, in the period.
-- Kevin Baxter