Mood Going into the Game
“Goal scoring, goaltending – they have it all right now”@JimFox19 & @alex_faust break down what’s been working for the @LAKings as of late#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/perowC8sud
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) March 10, 2020
Prepped and ready!!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/VwwfjIALAw
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 10, 2020
184-Word Recap
Jonathan Quick secured back-to-back first star honors and Mikey Anderson scored his first career goal as the Los Angeles Kings played spoiler again beating the slow-moving (at least on this night) Colorado Avalanche for their sixth straight win.
The Kings streaked to a 2-0 lead in the first behind goals from Austin Wagner and Anderson as the Avalanche looked flat on the second night of a back-to-back. When Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon did not return after sustaining a lower-body injury in the second period, the Avs had only mustered eight shoots on goal to the Kings 22.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare made it interesting, bouncing a puck to the back of the net at 2:19 of the third period to make it 2-1, but Quick stood tall throughout, stopping a number of grade A chances. Alex Iafallo added an insurance goal on a hard fought breakaway to virtually seal the game, 3-1, at 14:35 in the third period.
With the loss, the Avalanche were unsuccessful in their quest to move into a tie for first place in the Central Division with the defending Stanley Cup Champion.
Game Notes
Three Stars of the Night—Jonathan Quick (1st), Mikey Anderson (2nd), Drew Doughty (3rd)… Quick is 5-0-1 with a 1.29 goals-against average and .957 save percentage in his past six starts… Anderson is the fifth Kings player under 23 to score this season (joining Blake Lizotte, Matt Luff, Austin Wagner, and Gabe Vilardi)… Doughty had an assist on Alex Iafallo’s goal to tie Butch Goring for seventh in Kings history (284)… Iafallo has six points (2G / 4A) in the past five games… The Kings are 9-2-1 in their past 12 games… They finished at 2-0-1 in the three-game season series against Colorado… Pavel Francouz made 32 saves for Colorado… The loss was only the Avalanche’s second in regulation in their past 12 games (8-2-2)… Gabriel Landeskog snapped his eight-game point streak… The Kings are 41-19-9 at home all-time record versus the Avalanche/Nordiques…. Vilardi had an assist on Anderson’s goal and has five points (2G / 3A) in nine NHL games… Matt Roy is now a +15, leading the Kings (Anze Kopitar is second at +6)… Impressive numbers considering the Kings are a -26 on the season…
Up Next: Kings host the Ottawa Senators at 7:30 PM PST on Wednesday at Staples Center.
Highlights
Kings 1. Avs 0.
14:22 / 1st Period: Austin Wagner (6) from Nikolai Prokhorkin (10) and Sean Walker (18)
Kings 2. Avs 0.
15:25 / 1st Period: Mikey Anderson (1) from Martin Frk (2) and Gabe Vilardi (3)
“It feels awesome. You dream about it, so it’s pretty exciting to have it happen.” – Mikey Anderson#GoKingsGo @miklovin8 pic.twitter.com/j6uz1SoNBV
— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 10, 2020
No, not tonight!
(Also, Jonathan Quick with the .924 save percentage since January 1st.)
Jonathan Quick with a big save on a penalty shot against Valeri Nichushkin 😎#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/FqdmSAt4f8
— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 10, 2020
Work to do. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/VerqLoIYUq
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 10, 2020
Kings 2. Avs 1.
02:13 / 3rd Period: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (9) from Ian Cole (22)
Kings 3. Avs 1.
14:35 / 3rd Period: Alex Iafallo (17) from Ben Hutton (11) and Drew Doughty (27)
Alex Iafallo entering the no chill zone in the most beautiful way. pic.twitter.com/NTTjbiUuMY
— NHL (@NHL) March 10, 2020
Final: Kings 3. Avs 1.
Six wins in a row 🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙 pic.twitter.com/WQwR9YX5fs
— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 10, 2020
Quotables
“We just made sure that we had to keep it simple and keep playing the way we had in those previous five.”
Drew Doughty on the LA Kings win over Colorado. pic.twitter.com/029LDwdGNp
— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 10, 2020
“Usually that’s a sign of a pretty good team when you can just repeat over and over again: good goaltending, good team play”
Coach Todd McLellan looks back on what he liked and didn’t like from tonight’s game@LAKings | #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/BJpdaDJfpe
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) March 10, 2020
“We don’t wanna stop at 6 games. We want to keep winning”
Austin Wagner chats with the media after the win@LAKings | #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/cPtqoN7iVR
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) March 10, 2020
“It was a good game all around. Everybody was moving and supporting each other, communicating out there. It was a big win for us”
Alex Iafallo chats about the win tonight@Patrick_ONeal | @jarretstoll | @LAKings | #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/FTmHR9bcZ5
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) March 10, 2020
‘They outworked us in the first, and I think we paid the price’.@bellsy78 reacts after the 3-1 loss in LA.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/Kyg85rlBRl
— AltitudeTV (@AltitudeTV) March 10, 2020
Jonathan Quick owns the Avalanche this season:
2-0-1, 3 goals against
— Nick Alberga (@thegoldenmuzzy) March 10, 2020
“We were sloppy, especially in the first.”
The Captain talks to the media following a tough loss in LA.
(📺: @AltitudeTV) #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/uqcJb30lZt
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 10, 2020
First Goals Are Special
Get @miklovin8 that puck, kid’s got his first @NHL goal! pic.twitter.com/wMw1DfagFB
— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 10, 2020
Congrats on your first @NHL goal @miklovin8 pic.twitter.com/jWlDyvrBgj
— Bailey LA Kings (@BaileyLAKings) March 10, 2020
“This is a pretty cool milestone and something I won’t forget”@miklovin8 shares his thoughts after scoring his first NHL goal@LAKings | #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/4oj6AimW4i
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) March 10, 2020
DYK? @miklovin8 and his brother @joeyandy19 are the sixth set of siblings in NHL history to each have their first career goal stand as a game winner. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/WYIl0Nrs1l
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 10, 2020
Gabe Vilardi collects Mikey’s 1st NHL goal puck. #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/bMAVCaRSGM
— Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) March 10, 2020
Back to the Future
Jarret Stoll on what Alex Turcotte, Arthur Kaliyev, Samuel Fagemo and Akil Thomas can bring to the LA Kings lineup. pic.twitter.com/5oozQlR7h7
— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 10, 2020
The Alexis Lafrenière Sweepstakes
Is he slipping away?