Quick `into a groove'

Jonathan Quick has started 25 of the Kings’ 27 games, and he will get the call again tomorrow in Anaheim. Here’s what Terry Murray said today, putting Quick’s recent stretch into some context…

MURRAY: “This year, his game has been good. There were times, in games this year, that I think he’d like to have a couple of those goals back, but that’s part of the process of young players, young goaltenders in particular. The last couple of games…I thought he was outstanding. He was tremendous in the game at Vancouver and very big in our game against Chicago, a big part of our penalty killing against one of the premier teams. He made some big stops. I think playing lots is benefiting him. He’s really getting into a groove and into a zone where he’s feeling good about his game and it looks to me that he’s playing, right now, like he showed us last year at the end of the season.”

As a follow-up, Murray was asked about Quick’s style of play, and whether it can sometimes be maddening for a coach to watch a goalie play the type of aggressive, challenging style that Quick usually employs…

MURRAY: “Well, that’s Quicker’s game. He’s a very athletic, very mobile goaltender. He’s got great lateral movement. That’s the `catch’ situation that you get into. If you’re not out challenging, then you’ve got the shooters with these new composite sticks that can fire the puck so well. If you’re not in the right position on the angle, and challenging aggressively, then they can blow it by you. At the same time, you know that sometimes, if you’re not covering back-door, there’s that lateral pass that you have to make a great save on too, which he’s very capable of doing.

“I think that gets back to playing well in front of the goaltender though. We were talking about that at the beginning of last year, taking away or limiting those grade-A scoring chances. We’re getting to be a better team in that. We still have areas to improve, but it seems like lately, whenever we’re giving something up, Quicker has been right on the spot for us.”