Los Angeles, CA – Jonathan Quick's 10th shutout of the season might have been his biggest as he helped Los Angeles to a 2-0 win over Edmonton.
The victory gives Los Angeles 93 points and a bit of breathing space as the team now holds a two-point lead over Phoenix for first place in the Pacific Division. Also in contention for the division are San Jose with 90 points and Dallas with 89.
Los Angeles, which has won its division just once (1990-91 season), has two games to play, both against San Jose, while the other three squads have three games left.
Quick posted 19 saves and now sits on top of the league leaders in shutouts while Slava Voynov and Dwight King each scored for the Kings, who have won three of four.
"Voynov cracked it open and we went on from there," said King. "Their goaltender was on his game, but Quick was terrific out there tonight and he's been like that all season for us."
Devan Dubnyk made 35 stops in the loss for the Oilers, who have dropped three of their last four.
"They played hard and wanted to win this hockey game, but so did we," said Dubnyk. "We wanted to play hard and return to Edmonton with our heads held high."
After the first two periods passed scoreless as Dubnyk made 28 saves and Quick needed to turn away just 14 shots, the Kings took the lead just 34 seconds into the third.
Anze Kopitar held the puck behind the Edmonton net and sent a quick pass to the top of the right circle. From there, Voynov blasted a one-timer that trickled behind Dubnyk for his eighth of the season.
A few minutes later, Trevor Lewis took a double-minor for high sticking and Edmonton's power play, ranked second in the NHL, went to work, but the Kings penalty killers did a good job at keeping the chances to a minimum.
The Kings sealed the win with 2:32 to play when Mike Richards brought the puck in down the right wing and from the circle he centered it, where King put it in for his fifth of the season.
Quick needed to stop just five shots in the third for his 24th career shutout.
Game Notes
The Kings open their home-and-home set against the Sharks on Thursday in Los Angeles...Edmonton plays at home against Anaheim on Thursday...Each team won twice in the season series...Edmonton went 0-for-2 on the power play while Los Angeles was 0-for-3.
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