Ryan Sikes 
Credit: Alex Cave / Hockey Royalty
Vintage Jonathan Quick carried the LA Kings to a 2-1 win in Anaheim.
The LA Kings earned a hard-fought two points with a 2-1 win in Anaheim on Tuesday night. With the victory, the Kings have extended their lead over the Vegas Golden Knights to five points.
However, they may no longer be the immediate concern. Vancouver fell in a shootout on Tuesday, but they have tied Vegas in points.
That game in Vancouver to end the regular season could have significant implications.
Anyway, back to the Kings and Ducks. We’ll get to it down below, but not enough can be said about the effort that Jonathan Quick gave LA on Tuesday. In the second period, he was the sole reason the score remained tied at one goal apiece.
“It looks like he’s been here before,” Todd McLellan said of Quick. “He made huge saves, a lot of them on the penalty kill on our behalf, but he made them when he needed to. He settled us down, that’s what you expect from your goaltender this time of the year.”
Here are a few takeaways from the game:
1. Kempe stays red-hot against Anaheim
After a low-event first period, the Kings wasted little time in the middle frame to take a 1-0 lead. After the Kings won a faceoff in the Ducks’ defensive zone, the puck went to Adrian Kempe, who fired an absolute rocket past John Gibson.
For Kempe, it was his 34th goal of the year and his 10th goal in his last ten games against the Ducks. Can he play Anaheim every day?
Pull and shoot, @AdrianKempe 🚨#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/YvAXqQcUGI
— LA Kings (@LAKings) April 20, 2022
LAK Goal – That's 🔟 goals in his last 🔟 games against the Ducks for Kempe! Loose puck in the slot and Kempe snipes it blocker side on Gibson. 1-0 Kings, early second period.
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) April 20, 2022
2. Penalties, penalties, and penalties
The Kings got really lucky in this game. With the Ducks sitting in the top one-third of the league in both the power-play and penalty kill, the primary objective was to stay out of the box. However, LA couldn’t seem to get out of their own way, committing four minor penalties.
The Ducks scored with five seconds left on the first one. In all, the Kings committed three penalties during that all-important second period, two coming from Alex Edler less than six minutes apart.
In the third period, Jonathan Quick was called for a tripping penalty but made a couple of key saves to kill off his own penalty.
Speaking of…
3. Vintage Jonathan Quick
What a performance from No. 32 on Tuesday.
“If we expect to play a couple of weeks from now, we have to be comfortable [in one-goal games]. Especially this time of the year, these games are more frequent,” he said.
Words won’t do it justice, so here’s the video and some reactions from around Twitter on Quick’s dominant start:
Jonathan Quick is just that ⚡️⚡️ @LAKings pic.twitter.com/r27qKJoajJ
— ESPN (@espn) April 20, 2022
Aerial-ly good Jonathan Quick save 🥅 pic.twitter.com/vTYltOqO71
— LA Kings (@LAKings) April 20, 2022
Goaltending clinic from Jonathan Quick during Ducks power play.
— Helene Elliott (@helenenothelen) April 20, 2022
32
That's all
— lisa dillman (@reallisa) April 20, 2022
Jonathan Quick currently wanted on 8 counts of grand larceny. #GoKingsGo
— The Royal Rant (@royal_rant) April 20, 2022
I feel like I'm watching 2014 highlights. Quick is on another level right now.#GoKingsGo
— Russell Morgan (@NHLRussell) April 20, 2022
What he's done in this second period is straight up criminal. Laughably great. https://t.co/JuoWml4SQj
— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) April 20, 2022
Quick looks like it’s 2012. @LAKings #GoKingsGo
— Stacia Robitaille (@StaciaRR) April 20, 2022
Jonathan Quick looks like it’s 2012 right now.
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) April 20, 2022
4. Danault’s no-goal challenged, overturned
The LA Kings took the lead – or so they thought – on Phillip Danault‘s 25th goal of the season just 32 seconds into the third period. After Viktor Arvidsson followed his own shot, the Swedish winger’s momentum and Gibson coming way out of his crease resulted in a collision between the two.
Danault grabbed the puck and, from a bad angle, put the puck in the net. The goal was immediately waved off. Todd McLellan challenged the ruling, and Toronto overturned it. 2-1 Kings.
The best part about Phillip Danault is he LOVES a challenge. 🚨#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/8tlYTui8Qt
— LA Kings (@LAKings) April 20, 2022
Call on the ice overturned
Now 2-1 LAK
— lisa dillman (@reallisa) April 20, 2022
The Kings are back at it on Thursday, hosting the Chicago Blackhawks for the final meeting of the year.
(Main photo credit: Alex Cave / Hockey Royalty)