Quick makes 27 saves, Kings shut out Stars

LOS ANGELES --Jonathan Quick made 27 saves for his 56th NHL shutout, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Dallas Stars 4-0 at Staples Center on Thursday.

Adrian Kempe and Arthur Kaliyev scored for the Kings (11-10-4), who had lost eight of 10 (2-5-3).
"We made them earn their way into the zone a lot," Quick said. "And when they got in there, we made them earn their way towards the front of the net. And then we had some timely goals, so it was a great team effort."

Jake Oettinger made 37 saves in his first loss in six games this season for the Stars (13-9-2), who have lost two in a row after a seven-game winning streak.
Dallas is 4-7-1 on the road this season and was playing the second game of a back to back after losing 5-4 at the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
"We've only won one game in regulation on the road (3-2 at the Arizona Coyotes on Nov. 27), and we're just going to have to bear down," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "We lost that game tonight with two neutral-zone turnovers and, again, when it was 1-0 we had some Grade A's that we didn't capitalize on, so some of those areas where we're just going to have to bear down in and clean up."
The Kings took a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the second period on Kempe's 11th goal. Phillip Danault stole the puck from Roope Hintz coming into the Kings zone and they were able to quickly transition before Kempe finished on a breakaway.

Los Angeles outshot Dallas 20-9 in the first period but Quick had to make several saves to protect that lead, none more impressive than his pad save against Denis Gurianov at 15:46.
"We made mistakes, we're not going to be perfect, so 'Quickie' was the stabilizer," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "He calmed things down. I always talk about his game management, the ability to get a whistle when we need it, get out and play a puck when we need it. I thought he did that."
Kaliyev made it 2-0 at 14:32 of the third period. Los Angeles caught Dallas off the rush again, with Rasmus Kupari setting up Kaliyev for a wrist shot from the slot for his fifth goal.
"Actually, prior to that, I reminded him on the bench that no one's ever going to get mad at him for shooting the puck," McLellan said. "I can promise him that because I thought there were opportunities during the game [on the] power play, there was a play in the slot where he's looking to dish it off. He's been blessed with an unreal shot. He needs to use it every chance he can get."

Bowness said the Stars were too tentative in trying to play the puck through the neutral zone on each of the Kings' even-strength goals.
"Well, when they're standing up and there's nowhere to go, there's nowhere to go. And it cost us," Bowness said. "We know how they're going to play with that 1-3-1. If you can't get a quick up before they get set up, you have no choice. You just have to chip it in behind them and go to work. … When we tried to stickhandle through, we made it too easy for them."
Viktor Arvidsson scored into an empty net at 18:41 to increase the lead to 3-1, and Andreas Athanasiou had an empty-net goal at 19:29 for the 4-0 final. Athanasiou was plus-2 in 11:35 after missing six games in NHL COVID-19 protocol.
NOTES: Quick has two shutouts this season and is second in among active goaltenders behind Marc-Andre Fleury of the Chicago Blackhawks (69). … Kings forward Dustin Brown had an assist in his 1,257th NHL game, passing Brian Rolston and Craig Ludwig for ninth in career games by a United States-born player. … The Stars are 1-7-1 when trailing after the second period. … Kings forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan had one shot and two hits in 12:02 in his season debut. He was recalled from Ontario of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. … Stars forward Jason Robertson had his seven-game point streak end (five goals, six assists). … Dallas had won six straight at Los Angeles and eight of nine.