Recognition for Quick

It’s always interesting, before road games, to listen to the questions asked by the home city’s reporters. In the first few weeks of the season, all of the questions were about Anze Kopitar. Now, increasingly, the questions are about Jonathan Quick, who was the NHL’s No. 1 star this week and is the current hot topic for Canadian reporters.

With his victory over Edmonton, Quick won his 20th game in 33 appearances, making him the the fastest goalie — in terms of team games — to reach 20 wins. Mario Lessard won his 20th game in the Kings’ 40th game in 1980-81. That stat is a bit deceiving, since Quick’s five shootout wins this season would have been ties for Lessard, but still, it’s clear that Quick has been playing at a very high level in the past couple weeks in particular.

Here’s what Terry Murray said this morning when asked about Quick’s play…

MURRAY: “When we broke training camp, I put title on him, as our No. 1 goaltender. That weighs pretty heavy on some young goaltenders. You’re a little concerned, as a coach. How is he going to respond to that? To me, he has accepted it and he has grown with it. He really likes that title of being the No. 1 goaltender. I think, with his invitation to the U.S. Olympic camp last August, it was great for his confidence, and I’m really hoping, for him, that he’s able to get an opportunity, through the Olympics, to be a part of the U.S. team, even if it’s on the reserve list, where he’s the third guy. That would be wonderful for his growth in the long haul, I think.”