Kings Beat Flyers 2-1 For Fifth Straight Win
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dwight King and Drew Doughty scored first-period goals, Jonathan Quick made 29 saves and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 on Saturday for their fifth straight victory.
Quick's bid for his 41st career shutout, snapping a tie with Frankie Brimsek and John Vanbiesbrouk for most shutouts by an American-born goalie ended with 12:10 to go in the third period when Brayden Schenn scored a power-play goal against his former team.
Philadelphia's Michal Neuvirth, who sat out the previous five games because of an illness, made 30 saves in his first start since Dec. 15. But it wasn't enough to prevent a fifth straight road loss for the Flyers, three of them coming on this California trip.
The Pacific Division-leading Kings, whose 10-3-1 record in December was their best in franchise history for that month, opened the scoring at 7:33. King got his second goal in three games after missing the first 35 of the season because of a broken foot.
The sixth-year forward finished off a slick give-and-go with Marian Gaborik with a one-timer from the right circle after defenseman Radko Gudas weak backhanded clearing attempt was intercepted by Gaborik just inside the Flyers' blue line.
Kopitar helped set up Doughty's power-play goal by intercepting another attempted clearing pass inside the Philadelphia line, this one by Ryan White. Jake Muzzin got the puck from Kopitar and fed Doughty for a one-timer from the top of the circle that beat Neuvirth high to the glove side at 17:16, while rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was serving an interference penalty.
NOTES: Six of Doughty's seven goals have come on the power play. . Kings captain Dustin Brown has no goals in 14 career games against Philadelphia, the only NHL team the 12-year veteran has never scored against. . Flyers D Michael Del Zotto, whose average ice time was a team-high 23:54 entering Saturday, was back in the lineup after missing two games because of an upper body injury. . Flyers RW Wayne Simmonds, who spent his first three NHL seasons with Los Angeles, got the primary assist on Philadelphia's goal. He has two goals and two assist in seven games against the Kings since he was traded to the Flyers along with Schenn in June 2011 for Mike Richards. . Jakob Voracek got the secondary assist on Schenn's goal. All 12 of Voracek's points on the power play came been assists. . Flyers center R.J. Umberger has played 40 games since scoring his last goal on Jan. 27, 2015. He had a career-high 26 in 2008-09 with Columbus.
(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
