Quick to start against Russia

After stopping 22 of 23 shots and withstanding lengthy stretches of play away from his end of the ice in the United States’ 7-1 win over Slovakia on Thursday, Jonathan Quick will draw a second consecutive start when the Americans face Russia on Saturday (4:30 a.m. PT / NBCSN), as announced by Dan Bylsma on Friday.

“I thought there were periods of inactivity in that game and he had to stay sharp, stay focused, and it was followed by two or three big saves he had to make,” Bylsma said of Quick, as reported by Dan Rosen of NHL.com. “I thought he played real well in the game, and again in the next game he will.”

Quick was the United States’ third string goaltender at the 2010 Vancouver Games and did not record any minutes in the team’s silver medal performance, which was led in net by Ryan Miller.

“I think that was obviously a great learning experience, just being a part of it and being in there for the games and seeing the intensity of the games, and anyone who was a part of it in 2010 not only will it help them here in 2014, but I’m sure also throughout their career – in regular season games, playoff games, anything like that,” Quick said shortly after being named to the 2014 team.

Miller will serve as Quick’s backup on Saturday and could draw into the preliminary round finale against Slovenia on Sunday.

In Rosen’s NHL.com article, Bylsma articulated a wider view about what Quick means to the American team.

“Jonathan Quick is a goalie who has guided his team to a Stanley Cup and was a huge factor, a guy in the past 12 games of the last month had a goals-against [average] just a shade over two and a [.915] save percentage, which are great numbers,” Bylsma said. “He’s a great goalie, was for us in Game 1, and we’re going to need him to be in Game 2.”

Per NHL.com, no other lineup changes are expected for the United States.

More Olympic coverage can be found on the Kings’ site and on NHL.com’s Sochi blog. A preview of the game on LAKings.com can be found here.