LOS ANGELES – Jonathan Quick had his fast glove to thank for his new milestone. Making a total of 24 saves against the Florida Panthers, the Kings 4-0 shutout at Staples Center gave their goaltender his 172nd win becoming the most successful goaltender in franchise history.

 

After edging out Washington in a shootout, their morale going against Florida was on a high level with a dozen games left. History was on the line against the Panthers with Jonathan Quick one in from surpassing legendary Kings goaltender Rogie Vachon who spent seven seasons with the Kings in the 1970s, winning 171. His team came out ready to make that happen as they broke into the first period putting pressure on an old rival with a new team. Roberto Luongo was in net for Florida where he spent half the first period denying the puck entry behind him.

 

The Kings had enough of bad blood and struck first with Trevor Lewis scoring his fifth on Kyle Clifford’s shot that rebounded off Luongo to hand Lewis his 5th of the season. Mike Richards made it a two goal lead six minutes later driving from the glove side to send a wrist shot behind Luongo for his 10th goal and first in 16 days. The Panthers nearly cut the lead in half on a shot from Jimmy Hayes, but was denied at the crease by the stick of Quick in the crease line. Los Angeles outshot Florida 10-8 with their physical power for support laying the hits on their Saturday afternoon opponents.


Florida controlled the second period, but couldn’t break through the Kings defense as they tallied on blocked shots from the point while Quick dominated in the net. During Florida’s first power play of the game, on a shot from Tomas Fleischmann, Quick made an unbelievable save that had to be seen twice by many. His glove snatched up the puck to deny Florida’s best shot at breaking onto the scoreboard.

 

Quick helped boost the will to win, as Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown scored eight minutes later on a deflection from Jarret Stoll to go off his skate and into the empty net. Brown’s 13th gave the Kings a huge 3-0 lead that just about put Quick’s chances for glory on priority. He wouldn’t stick around to see the end, as Brown suffered an upper body injury. The Panthers tried one last time to get lucky and score a goal on a near deflection that went off the post, while the Kings scrambled to find the puck. It was cleared out seconds later giving LA time to regroup.  

 

The team came out in the third period and got right to work on their biggest charge of regulation. The Kings took the game and held it inside the Florida zone putting their offense on full attack; this helped increase their lead further in order to clinch Quick’s chance at a fifth shutout. It came, but as a direct result to their offense and defense, as they made turnovers in the neutral zone to resume control of the puck and drive time off the clock.

 

Florida’s frustration turned into a high sticking call to Quinton Howden on Kings forward Slava Voynov giving the Kings a third chance to score on the power play. Alec Martinez made that possible with a corner shot on Luongo’s stick side that sent the puck behind him giving the defenseman his ninth on the year. Scoring that many against their old rival made for a sweet victory to hold the Panthers to just eight shots on goal and putting their goaltender in the spotlight.

 

After the game he was met by Vachon where the two met for a congratulatory hand shake. His 30th career shutout put him two behind Vachon for the number one spot on that record. The 2012 Conn Smythe winner still has time to clear that feat before the end of the season as they hit the road to meet Philadelphia, Washington and Pittsburgh to start off the new week.