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Quick, Kings blank Blue Jackets

Dec 24, 2008 - 4:46 AM By Dave Holstein PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- Rookie goaltender Jon Quick stopped all 24 shots he faced to notch both his first win of the season and first career shutout as the Los Angeles Kings snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-0 triumph over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Raitis Ivanans and Peter Harrold netted their first goals of the season, Patrick O'Sullivan also tallied and Anze Kopitar notched two assists for the Kings.

For Quick, it was his second career NHL victory. His other win was recorded last season on December 6, 2007 against Buffalo.

"It's a pretty big thrill no doubt," Quick said of the shutout. "Our penalty kill and defense played excellent all night long. When they had their chances we cleared rebounds, picked up the sticks in front, they took care of most of the work for me."

Quick was making his second consecutive start after being recalled from Manchester of the American Hockey League on December 16. At the time he was recalled, Quick was 6-5-2 with a 3.84 goals against average and a .855 save percentage.

"I was just glad to be able to step in and help the team," Quick said.

"He is a better player each day out," Los Angeles coach Terry Murray said. "He was better this game than he was in practice yesterday. I thought the team played well in front of him."

Ivanans opened the scoring 2:56 into the first period after collecting the puck and wristing it over the glove of rookie goaltender Steve Mason from the left slot.

"I just went to the net," Ivanans said. "The shot bounced right on my stick and I put it in."

"They kicked us hard early," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said. "It took us 25 minutes to get into the game. They have a lot of veteran, strong players and guys who know how to compete and play, and play at at a high level."

Later in the first, O'Sullivan scored off a 2-on-1 rush at 11:48 to open up a two-goal lead. Kopitar fed the puck to O'Sullivan for a one-timer, beating Mason to the glove side.

"A great pass from Anze," O'Sullivan said. "I just had to get it on net and I was able to get it in."

"The first period was probably our best first period of the year," Murray said. "We came out and responded to a disappointing game. The players felt a responsibility to come out with lots of energy and they did."

Los Angeles had a season-high 21 shots in the second period, but Mason kept the deficit at 2-0. However the Blue Jackets were unable to solve Quick, who made seven saves in the first and third periods and 10 in the second.

"Other than our goaltender, we were poor today," Hitchcock said. "He's our most resilient guy on our hockey club and he's a great goaltender."

"It's frustrating," Mason said. "Obviously you can't win if you are not scoring and we're definitely not doing that right now."

The 21 second-period shots also set a season-high for shots allowed in a period by Columbus this season.

Harrold added a goal late in the third when he slid a backhander past Mason at 17:52. Mason finished with 39 saves for Columbus, which saw a five-game home winning streak snapped.

Columbus had an apparent goal by captain Rick Nash disallowed midway through the third period. After a lengthy review, it was determined that Nash's stick was above the level of the crossbar when he tipped it in.

The Blue Jackets were shut out for the second consecutive game and only the third time this season, second against Los Angeles. They also dropped a 3-0 contest to the Kings on December 6.

"Scoring is obviously a big part of our offense," Nash said. "You've got a ton of guys in here that can score and you know, we've got to do our jobs."