(Sports Network) - Three contests into their four-game road trip and the
Phoenix Coyotes still don't have a goal.
The Coyotes will try to salvage the finale of their swing against the team
that just handed them their latest shutout loss as they visit the Los Angeles
Kings for a second straight night.
The Coyotes have been outscored 8-0 in losses at St. Louis, Columbus and L.A.
on their trek and haven't scored in four straight road games. That span
included a 2-0 loss in Anaheim on March 6 and the club has not lit the lamp
since Rob Klinkhammer tallied with 9:05 left in a 5-2 home win over the Kings
last Tuesday.
Phoenix is just 3-7-3 on the road following Monday night's 4-0 loss to the
Kings, but is still tied for eight in the Western Conference with the Sharks.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, has won four of six and 11 of its last 15. The Kings
sit in a tie for fourth in the West with 34 points, even with the St. Louis
Blues and four points ahead of the Coyotes.
While the Coyotes have not scored in their last 194 minutes and five seconds
of game action, Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick made 27 saves on Monday night
to record his first shutout of the season.
Quick had 10 shutouts a season ago and now has 25 in his career, including
four versus the Coyotes. He helped Los Angeles kill off all four of Phoenix's
power plays on Monday night.
"It was great and we even created a couple of chances I think on the PK," said
Quick. "That's something that we did so well last year that we haven't been as
great this year at is our PK and I thought we did a great job of taking away
their threats and not letting them get to make quality chances."
Jake Muzzin and Tyler Toffoli scored power-play goals for the Kings, with
Toffoli notching the first goal of his NHL career and adding an assist in his
second career game.
Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter also scored for the Kings, who will play the
third of a five-game homestand after improving to 11-2-1 as the host this
season.
"Our power play and our goalie was the difference in the game, I'm not sure
how well we played," said Los Angeles head coach Darryl Sutter.
Mike Smith gave up four goals on 22 shots for the Coyotes in 47:21 of game
action. Jason LaBarbera stopped all seven shots he faced in over 12 minutes of
relief, but it mattered little due to the struggling offense.
"We need some puck luck around the net," said Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett.
"We are looking for any kind of break in front of the net. There's two ways to
score: one is hard around the net or make a good skilled play. We didn't have
enough skilled plays so we are looking for something around the net."
Following this contest, the Coyotes will return home for two games before
hitting the road for another three consecutive contests.
The Sports Network