The Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks 2-0 in the opening game of their Western Conference semifinal at Staples Center on Tuesday night.
Jonathan Quick made 35 saves for his sixth career playoff shutout to help the Kings take a 1-0 advantage in the series.
Slava Voynov and Mike Richards scored for the home team as they cruised to their fifth straight win in the 2013 NHL playoffs after coming back from two games down to beat the St. Louis Blues in six games.
Quick was stellar in between the pipes for the Kings once again and revealed that winning the opening game was his top priority.
“We wanted to get off on a good foot, no matter how we did it,” he said. “We got better during this game but we’ve got some work to do.”
The Sharks put unrelenting pressure on the hosts in the opening minutes of the game but could not find a way past Quick, who frustrated them all night long, especially in the third period when they outshot the Kings 16-4.
S an Jose coach Todd McLellan rued his team’s missed opportunities in front of goal and stated that cost them the game.
“When the night ends you have to get the job done,” he said. “You can have as many good looks as you want. You can be in all alone.
“You have to find ways to finish and we have players that are capable of doing that. We have players that a capable of scoring greasy, dirty, play-off style goals.”
Quick has now only conceded six goals in his last five games as the Kings started a playoffs series at home for the first time in 21 years.
The Los Angeles Kings will look to extend their winning streak in the playoffs when they host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night for Game 2.
