What we learned from the Kings’ 1-0 shootout victory over the Blues

Some additional observations in the aftermath of the Kings’ 1-0 shootout victory over the Blues on Thursday night at Staples Center and the stellar performance by goalie Jonathan Quick, who made 43 saves.

Quick’s injury concerns long forgotten

The story line: Any lingering issues about Quick’s readiness after his summer wrist surgery vanished when the Kings goalie turned in back-to-back wins in the span of three days.

His shutout against the Blues was the 32nd of his career, tying him with Kings icon Rogie Vachon for the franchise mark.

“It’s a great accomplishment for him,” Kings center Jeff Carter said. “There’s going to be many more, I’m sure.”

Said St. Louis center David Backes: “We couldn’t find a way to put those past Jonathan Quick, and he’s an all-world goalie, no question.”

Power-play still needs to ignite

Kings Coach Darryl Sutter indicated there was a definite lack of energy, which made sense, considering the Kings played four games in six days.

They’ve won their last three games but the power play continues to be a work in progress. They were 0 for 4 on the man advantage against the Blues and are 1 for 18 in five games this season.

The lone Kings power-play goal came from rookie left wing Tanner Pearson against the Edmonton Oilers in Tuesday’s 6-1 win.

The toughness of the Western Conference continues

St. Louis vs. Los Angeles has made for a top-notch rivalry in the past couple of years and the first meeting between the teams this season only accentuated that point.

In fact, the Western Conference remains as deep as ever, it seems.

“I think it was a good, hard, heavy Western Conference battle and it tested both teams,” Backes said. “You get to the old skill competition at the end and it’s even one goal out of six shooters there. It’s as tight as it gets.”

Carter was already looking ahead to Sunday’s game against Minnesota.

“You look at the conference now and there really aren’t any nights off,” he said. “It’s a battle every night. The teams we’re playing, they’re going to be hard games. Grinding out like this. We’ll see another one on Sunday. Anytime we can get one, two points, we’ll take it.”

A busy schedule, early on, was to Carter’s liking. The Kings had a stretch of four games in six nights, whereas the Blues had two games and then several days off before their third game.

“I think I’d rather do what we did, at the start of the year, rather than play two games in a week and a half,” Carter said. “You can play all the preseason games you want, but, it’s probably not the right thing to say, but it takes a couple of games to get going.”