Kings Regain Playoff Position With 1-0 Shutout Of Coyotes
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andy Andreoff scored his first NHL goal late in the second period and Jonathan Quick earned his sixth shutout of the season, leading the Los Angeles Kings to a vital 1-0 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Monday night.
The defending Stanley Cup champions, who are 13-4-1 since an 0-3 road trip through Boston, Washington and Florida, climbed back into the second and final Western Conference wild-card spot. They have 13 games left on the schedule to hold onto it.
Only seven times has a Stanley Cup champion missed the playoffs the following season.
Quick made 25 saves en route to his franchise-record 37th shutout. The Coyotes, whose 145 goals are the fewest in the league, were blanked for the 10th time and second time by a 1-0 score. Last season, they lost only three games by shutout.
Arizona is 1-13-1 since Feb. 10, the only victory coming against Vancouver in a shootout. The Coyotes haven't won in regulation since beating Columbus 4-1 on Feb. 3, and have scored just eight goals in their last eight games.
Mike Smith stopped 34 shots for the Coyotes. The nine-year veteran has one victory in his last 14 starts since Feb. 9 when he made 36 saves in a 3-2 decision at Chicago. Smith was 11-4-1 with a 2.26 goals-against average and two shutouts in his 17 previous games against the Kings.
Andreoff, a third-round pick by the Kings in the 2011 draft, got a cross-ice pass from Jordan Nolan a few feet to the right of the net and slid the puck under Smith's left leg 65 seconds before the second intermission. The 23-year-old forward was playing in his 15th NHL game, and it was only the second time he played in back-to-back contests.
NOTES: Kings radio analyst Daryl Evans, who scored the postseason overtime winner against Edmonton in 1982 at the Forum that will forever be known as the "Miracle on Manchester," completed Sunday's Los Angeles Marathon for the sixth time in the last 12 years. ... Kings C Jarret Stoll missed his second straight game because of an upper-body injury. ... Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Coyotes is the only defenseman in the league that is leading his team in goals (17). The first one came in overtime against the Kings on Oct. 11 in the Coyotes' second game of the season. ... The Coyotes were 0 for 2 on the power play, and are 3 for 32 over their last 14 games. ... The Kings have allowed just four goals in 57 short-handed situations over their past 22 games. ... Coyotes C Kyle Chipchura played in his 400th regular-season game.
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