New York. Jonathan Quick was fired as “all done” when he was recently traded from the Los Angeles Kings.
Last night, he kept his first clean sheet for a new Vegas club – against Team Carolina.
– This is a fun team to play with, says the 37-year-old icon after winning 4-0 in Rally.
There were those who thought the Los Angeles Kings were playing with fire when, to the chagrin of many, they replaced Jonathan Quick a few weeks ago and after several trips he ended up with the rival Vegas Golden Knights.
I’ve never met a more competitive person. Former Kings coach Darryl Sutter, who is now in Calgary, for example, said he would line up big games now.
A respectable prophecy, one might say.
Last night, less than two weeks later, the 37-year-old did his best in a multi-season, stopping 33 Carolina shots and keeping a clean sheet.
“I would love to see what he has contributed so far,” says Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy.
– It makes it easy for our defence, controls rebounds and goes out and plays the ball when needed.
The two-time Stanley Cup champion seems happy with himself, too.
– Yes, this is a fun team to play with. He says men fight and find ways to win.
Hurricanes usually do that too, but last night I hit a rock and got hit. Because at the same time, New Jersey won 3-1 in Montreal, that meant the next night’s home game in Newark would be a direct showdown for first place in the divisional table, which the Cannes had held for most of the winter.
William Carlson got help for Vegas last night.
After a solid 5-1 victory over local rivals the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night, Pittsburgh had a handful of points against the teams chasing it.
– It was very good, but I feel like we have another level in us, says goal kicker Jason Zucker.
Rijkaard Raquel, for the 22nd time this season, also scored two assists for Marcus Peterson.
Patrick Kane scored for the Rangers for the second consecutive game away to Buffalo, but it was longtime partner Artemy Panarin who scored the hero by scoring 2-1 in overtime – after a work by Mika Zibanejad.
Victor Hedman returned to the ice last night after missing a few games with an injury and helped Tampa win 3-1 over Chicago, including assisting on a goal signed by Brayden Point.
But the question is whether unlucky friend Steven Stamkos ended up on the injury list instead.
He appeared to roll something in his knee at the end of the first period and disappeared into the locker room, never to return to the game.
– But we don’t think it’s dangerous, we hope he’s okay, says coach John Cooper.
Some other results from Saturday’s lackluster NHL tour:
Colorado-Arizona 3-2 (Kal Makar decides in overtime), Columbus-St. Louis 2-5, Florida-Winnipeg 4-5 (Mark Cheveley decides in overtime), Dallas-Seattle 4-3 (Miro Hiskanen decides in overtime , Alex Wennberg got an assist), Vancouver-Ottawa 5-2 (pass to Elias Peterson), Los Angeles-Nashville 1-2 (after a penalty decision).