Los Angeles, CA – Jonathan Quick stopped 23 shots, while Dustin Brown tallied in the first minute of regulation to help the Los Angeles Kings take a 4-1 decision over Colorado at Staples Center.
"The guys did a great job in front of me. We forced them to turn the puck over, which helped us offensively," said Quick of his teammates, who have combined to give up just three goals in the last three games. "When you win games your confidence gets better as a team."
Jeff Carter, Trevor Lewis and Anze Kopitar also lit the lamp for the Kings, who have won three in a row and five of six.
Milan Hejduk posted the sole offense and Semyon Varlamov made 22 stops in defeat for the Avalanche, who had won three of their last four coming in.
Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a concussion on Jan. 26.
Brown opened the scoring with a rocket one-timer from the left wing at the 58- second mark. Justin Williams aided the play by skating up the right side and finding a seam in the middle with which to slip his pass.
Carter celebrated the one-year anniversary of his acquisition from the Blue Jackets by doubling the LA advantage on a wrister with 5:38 remaining. Former Flyers teammate Mike Richards threaded a pass to the winger for his ninth goal of the season.
Hejduk was planted to the right of Quick and converted a PA Parenteau pass during a 4-on-3 power play to get Colorado on the board with 1:16 gone in the second.
However, Lewis restored the Kings' two-goal margin only 1:35 later, and Kopitar produced a 4-1 margin with his wrister at 16:42.
Quick shut the door in the third period, halting all five Colorado opportunities.
"We had some costly turnovers. We didn't play well at all and we have to learn to compete for a full 60 minutes," noted Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco.
Game Notes
Los Angeles snapped a five-game losing streak to Colorado, dating back to a 4-1 home win on Mar. 26, 2011 ... Prior to the game, the Kings honored former player Ian Laperriere (1996-2004), who also skated for the Avalanche from 2005-09 ... LA wore throwback purple-and-gold jerseys as the club originally donned from 1967-80 ... On Feb. 23, 2012, the Kings acquired Carter from Columbus in exchange for defenseman Jack Johnson and a first-round draft pick in 2013.
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