Quick, Kings blank Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Jonathan Quick downplayed the record he set with a 32-save shutout at United Center on Monday, but it put him in uncharted territory.
Quick, whose performance helped the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks, earned his 41st NHL shutout to pass Frank Brimsek and John Vanbiesbrouck for most by a U.S.-born goalie.
"It was a lot tougher for [Vanbiesbrouck] to get shutouts when he was playing," said Quick, who grew up a Vanbiesbrouck fan in Milford, Conn. "It's a situation where it's cool. It's a team effort, too, to get a shutout. You're thankful to all your teammates over the years, but at the same time, I think his shutouts are probably worth two of mine. So, take it with a grain of salt."

Quick was just as pleased with the win for the Kings (41-22-5), which he helped secure with nine saves in the first, seven in the second and 16 in the third to blank the Blackhawks (41-23-6).

"Somebody told me [about the record] when I tied [Vanbiesbrouck], so I found out then," Quick said. "It's been awhile, so you completely forget about it. You keep track of wins, not really shutouts. You want wins. That's all that matters. If it was a 5-4 game, I'd be just as happy."
Former Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg had a goal and assist, left wing Milan Lucic extended his point streak to six games with a goal, and defenseman Luke Schenn had two assists.
Vincent Lecavalier, Dustin Brown and Tyler Toffoli scored for Los Angeles, which will conclude its back-to-back at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. The Kings (87 points) moved within a point of the Blackhawks (88 points) in the Western Conference.

"We try to play them physical," Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. "They're not a very physical team. They're kind of a skilled team, I guess you could say, so that's what we tried to do ... just play them physical and not give them a lot of room, especially those top guys."
Chicago had its chances but went 0-for-6 on the power play and just couldn't beat Quick. The Blackhawks also hit the right post and crossbar with shots in the first, when it was 2-0.
The Blackhawks have lost their past three games and are 1-3-1 in the past five and 9-10-2 since setting a Chicago record with 12 straight wins Dec. 29-Jan. 19. They are in third place in the Central Division, behind the Dallas Stars (91 points) and the St. Louis Blues (91 points).

"You go on stretches where you win 12 in a row, and [now] we got this little stretch going right now," said right wing Patrick Kane, who was moved up to the top line with Jonathan Toews in the second period. "Obviously, we want to shore that up before [the Stanley Cup Playoffs] and make sure we're going in there feeling consistent about our game."
This was the ninth time an opponent has scored five or more goals against the Blackhawks, who are 1-7-1 in those games.
"There's been a few of these games where they've been blowouts and we've been on the wrong side of them," said Kane, who hasn't had a point in Chicago's past three games. "We have to get rid of that."

Corey Crawford, who tied his career high for starts in a season by making his 57th for the Blackhawks, allowed all five goals.
The first two were the most damaging. After Chicago raced out to a 5-1 advantage in shots on an early power play, Los Angeles killed it, then Versteeg and Lucic scored goals 18 seconds apart.
Versteeg, acquired in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 28, scored his first goal with the Kings off a rebound at 3:17. He earned his second point on the same shift, sending a cross-ice pass to Lucic for a shot that beat Crawford at 3:35 for a 2-0 lead.

"That was big for us," Doughty said. "From that point on, you kind of could feel that we were going to win that game. They were getting opportunities and stuff like that, but we felt like we were in control from that point."
Lecavalier made it 3-0 at 15:30 of the second, after a pass by forward Trevor Lewis gave him the puck to the left of the net with only defenseman Duncan Keith in front of him.
Brown made it 4-0 at 11:20 of the third with his first goal since Feb. 9, and Tofffoli scored the final goal at 16:10 to end an 11-game goal drought dating to Feb. 18.