Kings shut out Flames, back in first in Pacific

LOS ANGELES --The Los Angeles Kings aren't playing as well as they would like heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they corrected their third-period issues in time to get back to first place Thursday.
Jeff Carter scored two goals and Jonathan Quick made 21 saves when the Kings defeated the Calgary Flames, 3-0, at Staples Center.

The Kings (46-26-5) moved into first in the Pacific Division with 97 points and tied the franchise single-season record with their 46th win, achieved during their Stanley Cup championship 2013-14 season.
The Kings had been outscored 8-1 in the third period and allowed 13 total goals in their previous three games.

"It's going in the right direction," Carter said. "We want to finish first. We want home ice. We've got five games left here. We know what we have to clean up and we'll continue to work on it."
Quick's 42nd career shutout was also his 39th win to match his own franchise single-season record set in 2009-10.
"Good to see Jonathan get recognized and rewarded with that once in a while, isn't it?" Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "He usually is our best player. Those three guys tonight, [Anze] Kopitar, Carter and Quick were pretty good."

The Flames (32-40-6) took their second loss in as many nights following an 8-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
"Just all around, it's been a tough year for us in our own division," Mikael Backlund said. "I don't know why. They're a heavy team to play. They play physical. They play smart. [They have good] goaltending. They're hard to play against. We've got to find a way to play the same way."
Backlund's goal was disallowed four minutes into the second period on goalie interference by Joe Colborne.
Calgary coach Bob Hartley said he was "disappointed, to say the least" at the result and recognized the Flames are trying to reach the level of the Ducks and Kings.
"The Kopitars and the [Ryan] Getzlafs and the [Corey] Perrys [of Anaheim] -- all those guys -- they started in this league just like Sam Bennett and Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan," Hartley said. "You gain experience by playing this game, and you get better."

Carter's 21st and 22nd goals this season were scored in a span of 5:28 of the second period. He deflected Drew Doughty's shot on the power play 46 seconds into the period and tapped in Milan Lucic's spin pass at 6:14.
"I kind of had the back-checker on me," Lucic said. "Once he had his stick on me, I knew I couldn't get a shot, so I kind of did a little spin-o-rama move and it ended up working out. Sometimes you've got to be lucky to be good."
Andy Andreoff scored at 12:38 of the third when Carter's pass appeared to go in off his skate for a 3-0 Kings lead.
Gaudreau returned after missing two games with an upper-body injury.
Doughty passed Steve Duchesne for second on the Kings all-time points list among defensemen with 316.
Joni Ortio made 26 saves for the Flames.