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Quick, Kings edge Blues

Sep 23, 2008 - 5:24 AM KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Jonathan Quick may have taken the early lead to become the Los Angeles Kings' starting goaltender.

The 22-year-old made 19 saves in two periods and the Kings got goals from Davis Drewiske and Wayne Simmonds en route to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues in the preseason opener for both clubs on Monday.

It was a rare split squad contest, with one-half of Los Angeles' roster posting a 6-4 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes later Monday.

Last season, six different goaltenders made at least two starts for the Kings, who allowed a Western Conference-worst 3.21 goals per game. Quick posted a 3.84 GAA in three games.

With no clear-cut favorite to claim the starting position for the season-opener on October 11, Quick stated his case by stopping nine shots in the first and 10 in the second. Jeff Zatkoff played the entire third period and made 11 saves.

Drewiske opened the scoring at the 1:01 mark of the second period, scoring a shorthanded tally from the left wing with a hard wrist shot.

Simmonds doubled the Kings' advantage early in the third period, beating Blues goaltender Marek Schwarz with a slap shot from the top of the slot with 15:30 remaining.

Blues left wing Paul Kariya scored a power-play goal to break the shutout with 5:10 left to play.

The game was the first-ever NHL contest at the Sprint Center, which was home to the men's Big 12 Conference basketball tournament earlier this year.