Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick stretches to stop a shot by Kings forward Trevor Moore on December 10, 2023. Photo by Peter K. Afriyie via AP Photo
After spending nearly 20 years with the Los Angeles Kings, Jonathan Quick has earned his first win against them.
The New York Rangers rebounded last night after losing two straight games to the Senators and Capitals. The squad faced the Los Angeles Kings at home, a relatively close game until the Rangers pulled away in the third period to win 4-1. They have proven they can rebound after losing a few games by beating one of the best teams in the league, the Kings.
Quick is Quick
And Jonathan Quick, the goaltender who the Rangers picked up this past offseason, was in net. After spending 16 years with the Kings, he got the start for the Rangers last night and faced his former team for the first time, and beat them. Quick, 37, is now 8-0-1 this season with a 2.34 goals-against average. Not bad for a goalie who’s serving as a backup to Igor Shesterkin.
“I mean obviously, yeah, it’s special, right?” said Quick. “It’s a game when this summer, when the schedule comes out, you know you’re playing them. The effort from the guys in front of me, slowing them down in the neutral zone, blocking shots, the way we played defensively, it was tremendous.”
Streak Snapped
After winning their first 11 road games, the Kings fell to the Islanders the previous night in overtime, 3-2, to end their streak. They then came into Madison Square Garden and lost their second consecutive. Second period goals by Mika Zibanejad and Jimmy Vesey, along with some fighting and chippiness in the third which resulted in an assortment of penalties being assessed on both sides, sealed the deal for the Blueshirts. They are now a league-best 19-6-1.
“I think it was exactly what we needed to do,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “They are a good hockey team, real good defensively. We stuck with it and generated chances in the second and third. A really good start-to-finish game.”
The Rangers have now won four straight against the Kings, and are 6-0 against the Pacific Division this season. However, they have a pretty tough schedule coming up, facing the Bruins and Maple Leafs among other teams. Therefore, they will have to play their cards right as they have for most of the season.
