News and notes from Kings’ 2-0 victory over the Sharks

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Notes and quotes from the Kings’ 2-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center on Monday:

• The last time the Kings shut out the Sharks at home was March 23, 2002 (3-0).

• Jonathan Quick earned his 18th career shutout and fourth this season. He ranks second in Kings history in shutouts behind Rogie Vachon, who had 32.

• Quick played in his 200th career game Monday, all with the Kings. He’s the sixth goaltender in Kings history to play in 200 games.

• Mike Richards has goals in eight of the last 10 games (9-1--10) and has 18 points in the last 21 games (10-8--18). The Kings are 11-2-2 when Richards records a point.

• Simon Gagne has seven points in the last 10 games (3-4--7)

• Ethan Moreau scored for the first time since Oct. 9, 2010, at San Jose.

• The Kings are 5-2-1 in their last eight games

• The Kings are 6-1-2 vs. the Pacific Division

• The Kings have killed 18 straight penalties, dating back to Nov. 19 vs. Detroit

• The Kings are 9-1-1 when allowing two or fewer goals in a game

• The Kings are 9-2-3 when scoring first

• Scott Parse is expected to travel to Nashville soon to have his hip evaluated by a specialist. At that time, a decision is expected to be made whether to have surgery on his hip. A surgical procedure could sideline Parse for approximately four months.

The Kings are scheduled to practice Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. at Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo and then visit Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Kings Coach Terry Murray

On the game: “We had a good feel here tonight, there was good energy and emotion in the game and it got exciting at the end…. There was a real good response to the game against Chicago the other night, we needed to come out fast, we needed to come out with energy and set the tone, and I thought we did. There was a good carryover into the second period. I thought Quick did a tremendous job. That should have been a nice extra boost of energy to start the third period.’

On killing two penalties late in the second period: “That was a critical moment there for sure, that’s the part of the game they wait on is the power play. They’re very good at it, they’ve got a group of guys that’s been together for 10 years and they know how to move the puck around. We have to be good in those situations, you kill the penalties the best you can with your forwards. When it comes down to it your goaltender has to be good against the power play, and he was.’ On the disallowed goal in the third period: “That’s a call that in my opinion should have gone the other way, because it was called a goal on the ice by the official, and the explanation then to me was that it was inconclusive by the video replay judge as to whether it was kicked or a stick. But actually it is a goal by that explanation, it has to be conclusive that it is kicked. The video was inconclusive so it should have been a goal.”

On Richards’ hot streak: “He’s on fire, he’s carried us here in a couple games coming into this one, he’s been tremendous. It’s what I expect though. I’ve seen him put up big points in the past, though, and you know he’s really settled in here, really happy to be an L.A. King and playing great hockey.”

Goaltender Jonathan Quick

On playing his 200th game: “I didn’t even know it was my 200th game until [Matt Greene] let me know about five minutes before the game started. They go quickly and tonight was a big win. Everybody battled hard; it was a hard-fought game. They battled to on their side and this is a huge two points.”

About the Kings’ penalty killing: “We had a little bit of a stretch there were we weren’t happy with the PK. We had a string of five or six games where we let up a goal in each. It’s something that we’ve been great at the past couple of years and it’s something that we’ve really been putting a big focus on in these past few games because of that little stretch we went through. I feel like everybody’s mentality that they are going into the PK with is great.”

Winger Ethan Moreau

On the game: “I thought we were doing a really good job of keeping everybody involved and everyone was contributing and getting a lot of shots. Then [Jonathan Quick] took over when we needed him to.”

About the team having 33 shots: “System mentality -- I think you have to talk about it and we did before the game. I think it helped playing teams like Detroit and Chicago just seeing the success that they’ve had, San Jose as well, that they shoot the puck a lot. Even their star players, they just shoot the puck from all angles and I think we have to do more of that. I think the elite teams do that and we have to start to get more shots.”

From the other side …

San Jose Coach Todd McLellan

On his team’s power play, which was 0 for five: “It’s typical of these nights. When you don’t contribute early in the game and you wait for the power play to come, you’re usually not sharp enough to score. You’ll create a number of opportunities but you’re not going to get rewarded for it. The hockey gods don’t work that way.”

San Jose forward Joe Thornton

Summing up the game: “Good third period, bad first two. We just have got to somehow score to make it a game and we didn’t…You knew they were going to play well at home here. I’m disappointed at the way we came out, but I’m sure we’ll get a couple good days of practice and get back at it on Thursday.”

On Quick’s performance: “He played good. He’s a good goaltender, he’s a league goaltender. We had our chance but we just didn’t finish. He played well.”

San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle

Summing up the game: “The first two periods there was not a lot of emotion. We didn’t really work to get our chances. Five-on-five we had nothing for the first two periods. Not working hard enough to win the game. There are 82 games. You have got to find a way to get up for every game. Some nights are tougher than others, but at the end of the day you have to find a way. As a team you have got to get up for it. There’s no reason why. These guys are in our division.”

ALSO:

Jonathan Quick saves the day again in 2-0 win over Sharks

The Capitals and the Hurricanes are changing their direction

Pluses and Minuses: It’s a good week to be a goalie, young or old

--Helene Elliott