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Quick Looks Superb in First Game Back, Jones Assigned to AHL/Pearson Up

January 5, 2014, 7:56 PM ET [20 Comments]
Jason Lewis
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
If there were questions on whether or not Jonathan Quick would look shakey in his first game back, they have all been put to rest.

Quick had a stellar outing against the Canucks on Saturday night at Staples, stopping 27 of 28 shots in a 3-1 victory.

The USA Olympian had missed nearly two months with a groin strain, but made several sprawling saves that made my groin hurt just watching them. Among his 27 saves were two dandies in the waining seconds of the game on Daniel Sedin which kept the Kings up by one. Jeff Carter's empty netter would put the game out of reach just seconds later.

Quick was slated to play a game with the Manchester Monarchs last week during the teams stretch through the Central division, but nasty weather on the East Coast forbade Quick to make the trip out to New Hampshire. Sutter offered a little insight into what went down in his post game interview:

He was going to play last night and tonight or last night and tomorrow [with] Manch, and then I wasn’t crazy about it because he was going to have to fly all-day Monday to play Tuesday, and I really didn’t like that. So once he got weathered out, I just talked to him after St. Louis, and he said he’d be ready.


Quotes provided by LA Kings Insider

The whole thing seemed to be a blessing in disguise. We will see how Quick holds up if Sutter plans on going to him with his regular workload right off the bat. If you recall, I made a parallel to Jean-Sebastien Giguere and his recurring groin problems in this blog entry here. It's not going to be about how Quick does on a nightly basis, but rather how he does over the course of several games. With more wear and tear put on his body with starts every other night, hopefully he is fully healed and can stand up to the rigors he will endure.

In the meantime, the Kings made a few roster moves in order to activate Jonathan Quick.

First off the Kings traded Daniel Carcillo to the New York Rangers for a conditional 7th round pick in next year's draft to clear a roster spot for Jonathan Quick. Carcillo, acquired by the Kings from Chicago for a conditional sixth round pick this offseason, played in 26 games for the team and had a goal and an assist. While his energy was often noticable on the fourth line, Carcillo had a penchant for penalties. At 56 PIMs in 26 games he had one of the higher rates of penalties in the league. The Kings also have a log jam on the bottom lines with too many players similar and/or better than Carcillo. Jordan Nolan has taken a step forward this season and Clifford has more potential all around. Godspeed in NYR Carcillo.

The other move came today, as the Kings assigned the standout rookie goaltender Martin Jones back to the AHL. The move wasn't all that unpredictable despite the superb 8-3-0 start which saw him register a .950 save percentage and 1.41 goals against average. With Quick back in the mix, it makes more sense for Jones to fall back to Manchester where he can continue to get the majority of starts. Ben Scrivens would have to clear waivers to be reassigned, and given his level of play and friendly cap hit would almost surely be claimed. The decision is an easy one, even though Jones is now an NHL record holder. The Monarchs have had young 2009 4th-round selection J.F. Berube manning the pipes in the absence of Jones. With a 23-11-4 record, a .909 save-percentage and a 2.59 goals against, Berube has kept the Monarchs amongst the top of the AHL.

With Carcillo out and Jones down to the minors, the Kings have an open roster slot available. Is the team looking to make a trade potentially? Are they planning on bringing up one of several young scorers up to bolster the offense. With Just over $1.1 Mil in cap space the Kings could potentially pull up a winger from Manchester. Tanner Pearson maybe? Or what about young Nic Deslauriers, the defender turned left wing, who has been lighting mups for the Monarchs and is tied for the team lead in goals.

More news will come out surely in the coming days.

The Kings get back in action Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild.


UPDATED

The Kings have called up Tanner Pearson for the second time this season to fill the empty roster spot



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