Jon Quick outshines Kiprusoff as Kings cruise past Flames

Los Angeles, CA, United States (4E Sports) – Netminder Jonathan Quick outplayed counterpart Miikka Kiprusoff, stopping 17 of 19 shots, and Jeff Carter scored his 17th goal as the Los Angeles Kings cruised to an easy 6-2 win over the Calgary Flames Saturday at Staples Center.

With his performance, Quick improved to 8-7-2 on the season to help the Kings capture their third win in the last four games, improving to 13-8-2.

“I thought he smothered pucks,” said Kings coach Darryl Sutter “I guess the best way to put it in hockey terms — he covered everything really well.”

For his part, Carter scored a first-period goal that gave him 13 goals in 13 games and 17th this season, behind only Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Jake Muzzin, Trevor Lewis, Justin Williams, Anze Kopitar and Colin Fraser also scored for the Kings.

Kiprusoff tallied 16 saves and was pulled out for Joey MacDonald after he allowed six goals in 22 shots in his third game back from a knee injury. It was the first time Kiprusoff allowed six goals since Dec.6, 2011.

“I’m not faulting Kiprusoff,” Calgary coach Bob Hartley said. “They were great shots. It seemed our gap on every goal there was something we didn’t execute well and they made us pay for it.”

The Flames have been outscored 10-2 on its trip through Southern California that ends Monday with a rematch here.

Los Angeles grabbed a 3-1 lead in the first period after Slava Voynov laid out a perfect pass for Trevor Lewis to wrist high off Kiprusoff’s left shoulder.

Lewis recorded his career-high fourth goal after he totaled three in 72 regular season games last season.

Calgary got it back in the final minute as Mark Giordano and Alex Tanguay slipped behind the defense for a tap-in goal by Tanguay.

However, there was no stopping the Kings in the third as Justin Williams, Anze Kopitar and Colin Fraser scored to make it 6-2.

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