Goalie plays 1st game against former team for New York, which ends 2-game skid
Recap: Kings @ Rangers 12.10.23
NEW YORK —<\/strong> Jonathan Quick<\/a>\u00a0made 25 saves in his first game against his former team, and the New York Rangers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
“Yeah, it’s special, right,” Quick said. “It’s a game that this summer when the schedule comes out, you know when we’re playing them. The effort from the guys in front of me, slowing them down in the neutral zone and blocking shots; the way we played defensively, it was tremendous.”
Quick played for the Kings from 2007-23. He won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014 and is Los Angeles’ all-time leader among goalies in games played (743), wins (370) and shutouts (57), as well as Stanley Cup Playoff games played (92), wins (49) and shutouts (10).
The Kings traded Quick to the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 1, who flipped him to the Vegas Golden Knights one day later. He won the Stanley Cup with Vegas and signed with New York on July 1. He is 8-0-1 this season with a 2.20 goals-against average and .922 save percentage.\u00a0
“I thought it was fantastic,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “For him to have the success he’s had with one organization and then to come in here and play as well as he has for us and now to see that matchup against his old team, everybody was pumped about that and the way he played throughout the entire game.”
LAK@NYR: Zibanejad one-times PPG for opening goal
Jonny Brodzinski<\/a>, also a former King (2017-19), scored his first goal of the season and had an assist, and Vincent Trocheck<\/a> had three assists for the Rangers (19-6-1), who ended a two-game losing streak.
The Rangers lost 4-0 to the Washington Capitals on Saturday and 6-2 to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
“There were some negative things creeping into our game,” Trocheck said. “We all knew it and we recognized it, and I think that the biggest thing is just making sure you can spot it whenever it’s coming and get to it quickly. I thought we had a really good bounce back game tonight against a really good hockey team.”
Phillip Danault<\/a> scored, and Pheonix Copley<\/a> made 23 saves for the Kings (16-5-4), who lost a road game in regulation for the first time this season. Their NHL-record 11-game road winning streak to begin the season ended Saturday in a 3-2 overtime loss at the New York Islanders.
The Kings finished their four-game road trip 2-1-1. They play at home against the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.
“A lot of things have been going our way, so it’s nice to have a little adversity,” Los Angeles defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “We’ve got faith in our leaders, the guys that have been here a long, long time. They right the ship. I don’t think there is going to be any sense of panic or anything in the group. We trust what we have here. We trust what we’re doing. Get back in L.A. and get back to working, figure some things out.”
Mika Zibanejad<\/a> gave New York a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 8:27 of the second period when Artemi Panarin<\/a> moved the puck to Trocheck in the right circle, who passed across to Zibanejad in the left circle for a one-timer.
Jimmy Vesey<\/a> made it 2-0 at 17:27. Nick Bonino<\/a> leaped to hold the puck in at the blue line and passed down low to Vesey, who deked to his backhand and put the puck through Copley\u2019s five-hole.
“There was not a lot of room the first period to do anything,” Laviolette said. “I think we just stuck with it and eventually generated some good chances in the second period and continued to push in the third. For me, just a really good start to finish game.”
LAK@NYR: Vesey, Bonino team up to score
Danault’s power-play goal at 6:37 of the third period made it 2-1, but Brodzinski scored on the power play at 11:32 to give New York a 3-1 lead. He replaced Zibanejad on the top power-play unit while the Rangers\u2019 center was serving a 10-minute misconduct.
Will Cuylle<\/a> scored on his own rebound at 15:24 for the 4-1 final.
“I don’t think we played poorly,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “I just don’t think we played a game that allowed us to have any chance at winning.”
NOTES:<\/strong> Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov<\/a> sustained a lower-body injury in the first period and did not return. There was no update after the game. \u2026 Danault left the game with 3:46 remaining in the first period after being hit in the face by Zibanejad’s dump-in attempt. He returned with 5:36 left in the second period and finished the game. \u2026 Barclay Goodrow<\/a> returned to the Rangers’ lineup after missing the game Saturday in Washington with an upper-body injury. He wore a face shield and played 14:29, winning four of seven face-offs. \u2026 Panarin’s assist on Zibanejad’s goal extended his season-opening home point streak to 11 games. \u2026 Quick became the sixth goalie in NHL history to earn a win in his first game against his former team after appearing in at least 500 games for that franchise.<\/p>\n