When it comes to the Los Angeles Kings, they are getting more than just good goaltending out of their star masked man Jonathan Quick.
In fact, it is easy to say that heading into the Western Conference Finals for the second straight season, Quick, 27, has not only been the best player on his team, but has been the best player in the entire league in this postseason so far.
Going into this year’s playoffs, no one was quite sure what to expect from the defending Stanley Cup champions’ goaltender. Quick had a somewhat inconsistent regular season as he went 18-13-4 with a 2.45 GAA, a .902 save percentage and one shutout.
While those numbers are not terrible, it wasn’t what many were expecting out of Quick after he won both the Conn Smythe and Vezina Trophies last season. Simply put, the numbers were below-average for the All-Star goaltender.
In Game 1 of the first round against the St. Louis Blues, Quick began to look like the goaltender he was last year in stopping 40 of 42 shots. Unfortunately for him, one of his inconsistencies popped up at the worst time as he gave up the puck behind the net to Blues’ forward Alex Steen who easily slid the puck into the open net for a 2-1 overtime win while shorthanded.
Nonetheless, it was clear that Quick’s game was starting to return to form. The Blues outplayed the Kings the entire game and the only reason it went to overtime in the first place was because of the play of their netminder.
At the time, Kings’ head coach Darryl Sutter told long-time hockey scribe Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times that Quick was one of the best players on the ice that night.
“I thought he played a great game,” Sutter said. “It’s kind of ironic the two best players on the ice were in on the goal. And even there he tries to make a play. I think Steen’s stick tapped it.”
Quick and his team would also lose Game 2 of their first-round series with the Blues as Quick once again had a solid game between the pipes in stopping 23 of 25 shots. After that game, the Kings would go on to take four straight in a convincing manner..
In all, Quick stopped 167 of 177 shots , good for a .944 save percentage while also picking up a shutout in the first round. Quick shut the door when he needed to do and began to look like the goaltender that he was last year both in the regular season and in the playoffs.
It might be hard to imagine but Quick was even better in his team’s seven-game series with the San Jose Sharks. Quick stopped 195 of 205 shots, had two shutouts and was especially good in Game 7 in making 25 saves in his team’s 2-1 series clinching victory.
Just eight wins away from another potential Cup, it is clear that Quick is once again on top of his game and is looking like he could win the Conn Smythe Trophy for the second straight year.
