Kings ready for some rest after rugged series with Blues

By Dan Loumena

May 11, 2013 12 AM PT

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. The Los Angeles Kings, though, were enough of both Friday night in a series-clinching victory over the St. Louis Blues at Staples Center.

Dustin Penner’s long slap shot in the final second of the second period provided the winning margin in the 2-1 victory at Staples Center.

While the Blues controlled the flow of the game for large portions of each period, the Kings’ Jonathan Quick was again stellar in goal, stopping 21 shots to raise his save percentage in the six-game series to .944 (167 of 177).

“Right now the next step is get our legs back under us and get some rest and make sure everybody is ready for the next one,” Quick said.

The Kings will play the Anaheim Ducks if they can win a Game 7 in Detroit on Sunday or the San Jose Sharks if the Red Wings prevail. Game 1 of the Kings’ next series likely would be on Tuesday or Wednesday.

As for surviving the opening-round series against a physical opponent, Coach Darryl Sutter expected no less.

“There wasn’t much ebb and flow to the series,” he said. “It was so close. It was always a shift-to-shift competition the whole way.”