Saturday, April 1, 2017

Iginla's 625th goal, Quick's 35 saves get Kings past Canucks

Associated Press

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) Jarome Iginla scored his 625th career goal and Jonathan Quick made 35 saves for his second shutout of the season as the Los Angeles Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-0 on Friday night.

Tyler Toffoli also scored for Los Angeles, which is clinging to slim playoff hopes and now sits eight points behind Nashville for the second wild card in the Western Conference with five games remaining for each team.

Iginla's milestone goal tied Joe Sakic for 15th place on the league's all-time list.

Ryan Miller made 24 stops for Vancouver, which was eliminated from postseason contention last week and was shut out for the 10th time this season.

Iginla got the Kings on the board on the power play with 7:17 left in the second period by deflecting a shot from Alec Martinez past Miller for his 14th of the season and third goal in three games. It was also Iginla's fourth game-winning goal of the season and the 101st of his career.

Acquired from Colorado prior to the NHL trade deadline, the 39-year-old has six goals in 14 games with Los Angeles after scoring just eight times in 61 contests with the Avalanche.

Toffoli doubled the Kings' lead 3:50 later on a 3-on-2 rush, beating Miller high over the blocker with a perfect shot off the crossbar and in for his 19th.

The Canucks - now 2-8-2 over their last 12 games - had a great chance to jump in front less than two minutes into the second on a power play of their own, but rookie forward Brock Boeser, who came in with two goals in his first three NHL games, missed a wide-open net with Quick out of position.

The Kings were coming off a 4-1 victory in Calgary after picking up just one win over their last five (1-4-0), a stretch that helped put the club's playoff hopes on the brink of elimination.

Quick, who missed 59 games earlier this season with a groin injury, picked up his 44th career shutout after going 4-4-0 over his last nine starts, with 16 goals-against over that span.

He made a nice pad save on Canucks defenseman Luca Sbisa from the slot about five minutes into the third.

Miller kept the Canucks in it midway through the period when he stopped Adrian Kempe all alone in front on a 2-on-1 break before Quick stoned Daniel Sedin moments later.

Vancouver held an early 6-0 lead in shots before Los Angeles forced Miller into a save, but Martinez rang a seeing-eye effort through traffic moments later that found iron and stayed out.

NOTES: Griffen Molino, who signed a two-year contract as a college free agent with Vancouver on Tuesday, made his NHL debut. The 23-year-old forward had 15 goals and 18 assists in 40 games with Western Michigan University this season. ... Canucks F Drew Shore and brother Nick Shore, a forward with the Kings, played against each other in the NHL for the first time. Drew Shore picked up an assist on L.A.'s second goal. ... Vancouver backup G Jacob Markstrom, who hasn't played since injuring his right knee during the team's skills competition in late February, will have surgery next week and is out for the year.

UP NEXT

Kings: Host Arizona on Sunday to open a four-game homestand before visiting Anaheim in the season finale.

Canucks: Host San Jose on Sunday in the opener of a home-and-home set.

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