The Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings played a physical, low-scoring game Tuesday night at Staples Center highlighted by excellent performances from the two goaltenders.
Jonathan Quick led the home team to its NHL-leading 11th win on home ice with another great performance in net, while Boston backup Niklas Svedberg gave his team a chance to win despite it being out-shot for most of the game.
“I think there was a little bit more detail in our game (Tuesday) than there was last game,” Kings head coach Darryl Sutter said, per LA Kings Insider. “We played the way we have to play. It’s not always the results. It’s more about the process of trying to do it right and working at it.”
Here are the “3 Stars” from Los Angeles’ 2-0 victory.
No. 3 Star: Tanner Pearson, Left Wing, Kings
Pearson opened the scoring with a goal at 16:20 of the first period. Anze Kopitar created the play and made a nice pass to Pearson, who had a lot of the net to shoot at for his 10th goal of the campaign. Pearson finished with two shots and a plus-1 rating in 15:29 of ice time.
No. 2 Star: Niklas Svedberg, Goaltender, Bruins
Svedberg made 33 stops on 34 shots for a .971 save percentage. He also helped Boston go 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and made eight saves during a lengthy penalty kill in the first period during which Los Angeles had a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:25.
Svedberg gave the Bruins a chance to win, but they couldn’t provide him with any offense.
No. 1 Star: Jonathan Quick, Goaltender, Kings
The two-time Stanley Cup winner made 31 saves for his third shutout of the season. He made 12 stops in the third period as Boston was making a strong push to score an equalizer, including a fantastic save on a Torey Krug slap shot from the left face off circle. Quick showed off his athleticism by going from post-to-post to preserve L.A.’s lead.
Quick now is 11-5-4 with a .933 save percentage and a 2.15 goals against average in 20 starts.
Thumbnail photo via Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports Images
