{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Hockey League
Los Angeles 5, Chicago 0
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, March 14, 2016
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Referees: Eric Furlatt, Steve Kozari
Linesmen: Brad Lazarowich, Devin Berg
Attendance: 22170

CHICAGO -- Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick did not need to do much homework before he and his teammates faced off against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night.

"We've played a lot against each other in the past few years," said Quick, a nine-year veteran. "You don't need to do much video or anything like that. You know what you're going to get."

Likewise, the Blackhawks knew to expect a sharp performance from the opposing netminder. Quick stopped all 32 shots he faced as the Kings cruised to a 5-0 win over Chicago.

Quick stopped nine shots in the first period, seven shots in the second period and 16 shots in the third period to earn his fourth shutout of the season and the 41st of his career. He surpassed Frank Brimsek and John Vanbiesbrouck for career shutouts by an American-born goaltender.

"It's cool," said Quick, a native of Milford, Conn. "It's a team effort, too, to get a shutout. So you're thankful to all of your teammates over the years."

Kris Versteeg, Milan Lucic, Vincent Lecavalier, Dustin Brown and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Kings. Los Angeles (41-22-5) improved to 20-11-3 on the road and earned at least one point for the fifth time in the past six games.

"It was a good game," said Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, who blocked three shots as the Kings went 6-for-6 on the penalty kill. "Everybody played well. I thought all four lines were good, and all three (defensive) pairings, and obviously 'Quickie' played well, too. We're happy to beat them."

Chicago (41-23-6) dropped to 3-5-1 in its past nine contests. The Blackhawks lost in regulation at the United Center for only the ninth time in 35 games this season.

Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford turned aside 20 of 25 shots in the loss. He allowed two goals in an 18-second span during the first period, which forced the Blackhawks to play from behind.

"Tough start to the game, obviously," Blackhawks right winger Patrick Kane said. "For the most part, I thought we had some good chances. I know it's 5-0, but we felt like we were in the game all the way until the end. These are kind of frustrating, the last few games."

Los Angeles seized an early 1-0 lead when Versteeg scored 3:17 after the opening faceoff. Crawford allowed a long rebound on a slap shot by Brayden McNabb, and Versteeg capitalized with a quick wrist shot from the slot. The goal marked Versteeg's 12th of the season and his first with the Kings, who acquired him Feb. 29 from the Carolina Hurricanes.

"It felt good to get the monkey off the back," Versteeg said.

Eighteen seconds later, Lucic scored on a wrist shot to put Los Angeles on top 2-0. Lucic increased his point streak to a career-high six games, during which time he has three goals and five assists.

"We're down 2-0 right out of the gate," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "That's exactly how you don't want to begin a game like that."

Los Angeles increased its lead to 3-0 on a wrist shot by Lecavalier with 4:30 to go in the second period. Chicago challenged the ruling and claimed goaltender interference against Crawford, but the goal was confirmed after a video review.

Brown scored on a breakaway to extend the Kings' lead to 4-0 with 8:40 remaining in the third period. King shoveled a backhand shot past Crawford for his ninth goal.

Toffoli capped the scoring to make it 5-0 with 3:50 left in the third period.

Doughty said the Kings focused on stifling the Blackhawks' offensive attack.

"We try to play physical," Doughty said. "They're not a very physical team. They're a more skilled team, I guess you could say, so that's what we tried to do -- just play them physical and not give them a lot of room, especially those top guys. I thought we did a pretty good job."

NOTES: Blackhawks RW Richard Panik was a healthy scratch for the second time in the past three games. ... Kings D Jamie McBain missed his eighth consecutive game as a healthy scratch. ... Blackhawks C Dennis Rasmussen was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row. ... Kings D Rob Scuderi faced his former team for the first time since Chicago traded him to Los Angeles on Feb. 26. The Kings acquired the 37-year-old blue-liner in exchange for D Christian Ehrhoff. ... Chicago announced Monday that it signed D Viktor Svedberg to a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2017-18 season. Svedberg, 24, has two goals and two assists in 19 games this season with the Blackhawks. He also has appeared in 36 games this season with Rockford of the AHL.
Top Game Performances
 
Los Angeles   Chicago
Kris Versteeg 2 Points N/A
Kris Versteeg 1 Goals N/A
Luke Schenn 2 Assists N/A
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jonathan Quick 1.000 Save Percentage Corey Crawford .800
Jonathan Quick 32 Saves Corey Crawford 20
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Los Angeles 25 5 0-2 6-6 12 38
Chicago 32 0 0-6 2-2 4 31
Upcoming Games
  • Chicago will play their next game at home against Philadelphia. The Blackhawks have a W/L % of .619 after a win and .536 after a loss.
  • Los Angeles will play their next game on the road against Dallas. The Kings have a W/L % of .537 after a win and .704 after a loss.