Quick leads Kings to win over Blues
Posted Oct 10, 2009 10:10 PM
ST. LOUIS -Jonathan Quick made 29 saves, and Ryan Smyth and Michal Handzus scored in the Los Angeles Kings' 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.
The Kings won their third straight game after opening the season with a loss, completing a sweep of St. Louis on Saturday after the Dodgers knocked out the Cardinals in the National League Division Series earlier in the night.
Alex Steen scored a short-handed goal for the Blues, who dropped their second straight game at home after opening the season two wins over Detroit in Sweden.
Smyth banged home his own rebound after Drew Doughty's slap shot from the point caromed off the back boards to the front of the net, where Smyth scored the Kings' sixth power-play goal of the season 10:47 into the first period. He beat Chris Mason after Mason, who stopped 24 shots in the game, made the initial save.
The Kings outshot the Blues 7-3 in the opening period, but Quick had to make a sprawling save on the Blues' Andy McDonald in the slot 7 minutes into the period.
Handzus made it 2-0 for the Kings when his centering feed to Alexander Frolov during a two-on-one deflected off the stick of David Perron and between Mason's pads with 4:05 left in the second.
Mason kept the Kings from grabbing a bigger lead when he stacked the pads and robbed Dustin Brown during a short-handed breakaway, then again closed the pads twice and stopped Frolov twice late in the second period. He stopped Frolov again in the third with a nifty glove save in the slot.
Steen got his first of the season to break the ice for St. Louis, beating Quick with a high shot that was initially ruled no goal. But after a video review, the goal was awarded.
The Blues nearly tied it late after pulling Mason, but Quick stopped four shots in the final minute of play.
NOTES: The Kings' top line of Anze Kopitar, Smyth and Justin Williams has 20 points in the team's four games. ... Blues F Paul Kariya has scored more goals (31) and points (68) against the Kings than any other team in the league. ... Doughty left the game in the second period after taking a puck to the face following a slap shot from the point by the Blues' Erik Johnson. Doughty returned for the third. ... Blues F Cam Janssen made his season debut Saturday, replacing C Patrik Berglund, who was a healthy scratch. ... Smyth, who has four goals in the last three games, has 20 goals in 44 games against the Blues. ... The Blues recalled D Tyson Strachan from their AHL affiliate in Peoria after putting D Barret Jackman (ankle sprain) on injured reserve.
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2009-10-10 22:46:14