Quick makes history in Kings' 1-0 win

LOS ANGELES – The next time Jonathan Quick's teammates mob him this joyfully after the buzzer, it might be spring time.

But Quick's dominance has provided plenty of buzz in October to carry the Los Angeles Kings, who watched their young goalie march into the record books with Saturday night's 1-0 victory against the visiting Dallas Stars at the Staples Center.

Quick broke the franchise consecutive scoreless streak record and became the first Kings goalie to record three straight shutouts with a 28-save performance that touched off a rousing celebration near his net.

"We were so happy for him," Jack Johnson said. "He's been playing well, not only this season, but ever since he got here. He deserves it as much as anyone."

Johnson scored on slap shot from the right point at 15:02 for his third game-winning goal this season to send the sellout crowd into eruption. Eight of the past 11 Stars-Kings meetings in Los Angeles have been one-goal games.

Quick's shutout streak is at 188 minutes, 10 seconds. Rogie Vachon previously held the record with 184:55 in 1975.

Quick last gave up a goal on Oct.15 against Philadelphia. He owns shutouts against St. Louis, Phoenix and Dallas and is the first goalie in the NHL to record three straight shutouts since Steve Mason in 2008.

The soft-spoken Quick was typically deflective of the accomplishment.

"It feels good to have that done, but at the end of the day it's one game," said Quick, who has 17 shutouts in his fifth NHL season. "It's a long season, and we’ve got to keep this momentum going.

"Obviously I do feel good, but we've got guys battling in all areas of the rink, especially in the D-zone where they're battling in front of the wall in front of the net. They're doing their job extremely well right now and making my job that much more easier."

Johnson's goal came after Mike Richards won a faceoff in the right circle. Rob Scuderi got the puck and passed it to Johnson, who fired it through traffic and over Andrew Raycroft's right shoulder.

"We were trying to set it up the whole game and try and get a one-timer off the faceoff and cause havoc … usually those are scramble plays but fortunately that was a clean play and a great play by everyone," Johnson said.

It was the second time this season the Kings won a game on a Richards-Johnson connection. Richards assisted Johnson on the game-winner against Philadelphia and Johnson owns another against the New York Rangers.

"Better to be lucky than good," Johnson joked.

Dallas saw its four-game winning streak snapped, but it might have played its best stretch this season as it gave itself a shot at a Anaheim Ducks-Kings back-to-back sweep.

"That was probably our best game that we played," Raycroft said. "We played our game tonight. We played disciplined and we didn't give up much."

Raycroft stopped 23 of 24 shots and was in line for his 10th career shutout. He never saw Johnson's shot, but he saw another fine defensive game from his teammates.

"We were great tonight," Raycroft said. "There were no  second chances and we were able to get back at the puck and move it up."

Offensively, Raycroft said, "we hit posts and missed nets and missed rebounds. I definitely felt we outplayed them and had more chances. We just didn’t have as much luck."

Dallas outshot Los Angeles, 7-2, in the first 15 minutes of the third and nearly put one in when Michael Ryder hit the right post during a Dallas flurry at about 15:10.
 
"I heard it ring," Quick said. "I looked up at one of the players and I was happy he wasn't celebrating. You work hard enough and you're going to catch a couple of bounces."

The Kings, who have allowed only nine goals in seven games, were prepared for a low-scoring affair with their defensive-first system, and it was clear from the beginning that Dallas wasn't going to give them much to work with.

Richards tried to spark his team late in the first period when he fought Steve Ott. It was Richards' first fighting major since last October.

"Those are the instincts that come out of his game," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "What makes Mike Richards a special player is his character, his leadership, and then the instinctive part of his game where he reacts and takes care of business in all areas of the game, which means fighting sometimes or saying something, doing something, blocking a big shot."

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