NHL Game Summary - Minnesota at Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist, while Jonathan Quick delivered another outstanding performance between the pipes in the Los Angeles Kings' 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Quick followed up Thursday's sensational 43-save effort in the Kings' 1-0 shootout decision over St. Louis by turning aside 40-of-41 shots on Sunday. Counterpart Niklas Backstrom, on the other hand, stopped just 14-of-16 chances for Minnesota.
Tanner Pearson also lit the lamp to help the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings move to 4-0-0 on their current six-game homestand.
Matt Cooke recorded the lone goal for the Wild, losers of two in a row after opening the season with a pair of shutout wins over Colorado.
"We played well, but (Quick) just had one of those games again where he kind of shut it down," said Wild forward Zach Parise.
Despite being outshot by a 12-7 margin in the first period, the Kings carried a 1-0 edge into the intermission by capitalizing on their first power-play opportunity of the day.
Toffoli rushed the net to jam in a centering pass from Mike Richards on the 5- on-4 situation to send Los Angeles in front with 6:06 remaining in the frame.
Quick kept it a one-goal game with another 12-save display in the second period, and Pearson put home a one-timer from in close off a give from Toffoli to extend the lead to 2-0 less than three minutes into the third.
The Wild finally got on the board at 6:47 of the final period, courtesy of their fourth line. Cooke took in a nifty tip pass from Ryan Carter and beat Quick up high with a backhander for his first goal of the season.
Minnesota received a pair of power-play chances in the final 10 minutes, but the Kings killed both penalties off and Quick held his ground over the remaining time to give his team the two points.
"I think our special teams won us the game," said Kings head coach Darryl Sutter. "The two penalty kills were big."