Kings after one: Phoenix 0, Kings 0
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The Kings and Phoenix were scoreless after the first period tonight at Staples Center. The Kings took three penalties in the period and managed to kill them off. The closest either team came to scoring was when Coyotes winger Lee Stempniak hit the right post behind Jonathan Quick at 11:17.
A few notes:
There was a rectangular patch of ice inside each blue line that looked brighter than the rest of the ice ... a Zamboni malfunction? No -- just the outline of where the Kings will place the NHL playoffs logo for their first postseason home game. They might have needed to consult the manual on how to place it there, after eight years of non-playoff finishes.
The schedule, by the way, won’t be released until Sunday evening, after every regular-season game is done and the TV networks have finished fighting over who will get which game. Arena considerations figure in, too, because some NHL teams share buildings with an NBA team.
Also, Quick made his 71st appearance of the season on Thursday, tying the club record for goaltenders set by Felix Potvin in the 2001-02 season. The Kings need one win to tie the club record of 46, set in the 1990-91 season.
A couple of updates: in a previous post about Raitis Ivanans, he ranked 869th in NHL scoring. According to the league’s website he now ranks 810th in scoring. So he improved his placement without actually getting a point.
Also, forward Jeff Halpern was cleared to play after suffering an upper-body injury last Thursday, but he was a healthy scratch against Phoenix.
More later at www.latimes.com/sports
-- Helene Elliott