Quick's safe hands keep Kings title defence alive
Goaltender staves off Sharks' attack to see Los Angeles advance to play-off semi-finals
Reigning play-off MVP Jonathan Quick made 25 saves as the defending champions the Los Angeles Kings advanced to the NHL semi-finals with a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Right wing Justin Williams scored both Los Angeles goals and Quick made several key stops down the stretch as the Kings held on in the deciding game to win the Western Conference play-off series four games to three.
"I felt like I could have had three or four goals tonight. I had quite a few opportunities but I will take the two," Williams said.
After a scoreless first period, Williams busted through with two goals in three minutes for Los Angeles, who won their first Stanley Cup championship a year ago behind the brilliant goaltending of all-star Quick who picked up the 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup finals.
"We couldn't get one extra past Quick, that's probably what it was," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "They got a power-play goal that we didn't get. The second one they got was when we had overextended a shift and they took advantage. So in the end we probably made one more mistake than they did."
Heading into game seven, the home team had won every encounter in this evenly matched all-California series and the fifth seeded Kings kept that streak alive in front of a crowd of 18,593 at Staples Centre arena.
Los Angeles claimed games one, two and five, while San Jose grabbed games three and four at the Shark Tank arena before levelling the series at 3-3 with a 2-1 win at home on Sunday.
