GREG BEACHAM
AP Hockey Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jonathan Quick and Brian Elliott both remembered their similar goaltending duel on the same ice sheet 2 1/2 years ago, when they played 65 scoreless minutes of tense hockey.
Quick topped Elliott in a shootout again Thursday night, and the Los Angeles goalie took home a record along with the win.
Quick tied the Kings mark with his 32nd career shutout, making 43 saves and stopping all three St. Louis shootout attempts in a 1-0 victory over the Blues.
He carried the Kings to their third straight win, making saves with his glove, blocker and mask to keep it scoreless. Los Angeles expects such routine brilliance from a two-time Stanley Cup champion who showed his usual aversion to personal attention after his latest record-tying feat.
“It’s two points,” Quick said. “It’s more about wins than shutouts when we go out there.”
Jeff Carter scored the only shootout goal for the defending champions against Elliott, who stopped 17 shots in his 26th career shutout for the Blues.
Oddly enough, Los Angeles and St. Louis played a 1-0 shootout game at Staples Center three seasons ago. Quick made 35 saves, and Elliott had 37.
“That doesn’t happen often, and it’s happened twice here,” Elliott said. “It’s kind of the way we match up, I guess. We’ve got to take that next step, but when you get 40-plus shots on a good team in their building, you can take a lot of positives away from that. You’re going to win a lot of games if you do that.”
Quick matched Rogie Vachon’s franchise record for shutouts, reaching the mark in 50 fewer games than Vachon needed during the 1970s. Quick already became the Kings’ leader in victories last season on the way to his second Stanley Cup ring.
“What a game to do it in, the way he played,” Los Angeles center Jarret Stoll said. “We all had a hug for him when he came in the room. We all know how great of a goalie he is.”
Carter scored in the first shootout round, and Quick stopped T.J. Oshie, Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko to wrap up the Kings’ fifth straight home win over St. Louis.
“He played good, but there were some shots that we missed,” Oshie said of his U.S. Olympic teammate. “The net was wide open in overtime there. I’ve got to slide that in. Never even got to touch it.”
The Blues had the past four days off before opening their road schedule with a three-game West Coast trip, and they controlled long stretches against the Kings with their fresh legs and skill-laden roster.
Elliott also was outstanding against a Kings team that had scored 10 goals in its last two games, stopping everything except Carter’s vicious wrist shot to the stick side.
“We tried him enough on the glove side, and he was on it,” Carter said.
The season’s first meeting between the two title contenders featured plenty of tight-checking hockey. Both clubs struggled to create consistent scoring chances, with Kings coach Darryl Sutter shuffling his lines — even breaking up That 70s Line, Carter’s high-scoring trio with youngsters Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli.
“Just trying to get some energy, a little bit different look,” Sutter said.
Quick’s mask was dislodged and Steen lost his helmet during a prolonged scuffle midway through the second period when Steen hacked at the puck in Quick’s midsection.
Elliott broke his stick on a poke-check during a Kings power play midway through the third period, but played more than two minutes using defenseman Jay Bouwmeester’s stick when the Blues couldn’t control the puck.
Shortly after Quick made a spectacular glove save on a short-range shot by Bouwmeester in the waning minutes of regulation, he stopped a shot by David Backes with his head.
“Those few chances in tight, got to find a way to put those past Jonathan Quick,” said Backes, another American Olympian. “He’s an all-world goalie, no question, but we’ve got all-world players in here. Got to find a way to put some of those in, myself included.”
NOTES: Los Angeles F Marian Gaborik missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury, and Andy Andreoff played in his second NHL game. … Kings D Jake Muzzin still hasn’t played this season while recovering from an upper-body injury, although he got a $20 million contract extension Wednesday. … St. Louis’ road trip continues this weekend at Arizona and Anaheim.
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