Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick certainly would have
preferred to come away with the victory in Game 1. But if it’s any
consolation prize in the 3-2 overtime loss, he did win the
admiration of the Sharks. The 25-year-old Quick made 42 saves on
the night. Most impressive was how he bounced back after giving up
a goal to Dany Heatley just 28 seconds into the game.
SAN JOSE
Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick certainly would have preferred to come away with the victory in Game 1. But if it’s any consolation prize in the 3-2 overtime loss, he did win the admiration of the Sharks.
The 25-year-old Quick made 42 saves on the night. Most impressive was how he bounced back after giving up a goal to Dany Heatley just 28 seconds into the game.
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“When a goaltender gives up an early goal and then settles down the way he did, you have to be extra impressed with that,” Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray said. “We definitely weren’t surprised because we know what kind of goalie he is. But our goal was to get three goals, and that was enough.”
Quick’s aggressive style, often coming out of the net and cutting down the Sharks’ shooting angles, seemed to give the San Jose skaters trouble throughout much of the game.
“We definitely had to earn our goals,” Sharks captain Joe Thornton said. “We knew these games were going to be a defensive battle because he’s so good in goal. We just need to get more traffic, more shots, and hopefully we’ll wear him down as the series goes on.”
— Yes, Heatley was amped up for the start of the playoffs. In fact, he can’t recall ever scoring a goal to start a game quicker than he did Thursday.
“It’s definitely the fastest goal I’ve gotten in the playoffs, but I don’t even remember a faster one in the regular season,” he said. “Maybe I did, but I don’t remember off the top of my head.”
— Overtime, after the injury that forced Ian White out of the game after one period, made it a long night on the ice for the five remaining Sharks defensemen, especially Dan Boyle, whose even 35:00 in ice time led all players.
“I felt all right,” he said Friday, before adding that “my minutes had been down the last month of the season with Ian coming over, so the body wasn’t as used to it as it had been prior.”
Boyle averaged 26:14 during the regular season, second highest in the NHL. But only once in the past seven games had he played more than 25 minutes.
“I just had to be smart,” Boyle said. “I just had to try to not jump into the rush every play like I normally like to do and stay back and break the guys out.”
Marc-Edouard Vlasic finished Game 1 with 28:58 ice time while Jason Demers had 27:31, Douglas Murray 27:16 and Niclas Wallin 21:21.
Defenseman Willie Mitchell had the most ice time of any King with 29:42.
— Every year the Sharks bring prospects from throughout the organization to San Jose for a taste of the playoff atmosphere. Three — Brandon Mashinter, Jamie McGinn and Andrew Desjardins — have been skating with the team since the regular season ended and 11 others arrived in time for Game 1.
— The Sharks announced the signing of two 21-year-old college free agents, forward Mike Connolly, whose Minnesota-Duluth team won the NCAA Frozen Four title last week, and forward Brodie Reid of Northeastern. Both players were given entry level contracts.
— Story by David Pollak and Mark Emmons, San Jose Mercury News
