Stalock’s only two appearances

LOS ANGELES (AP) A strong power play and penalty kill can carry a team deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Right now Dallas Stars Hoodies Womens , the Los Angeles Kings hope their special teams can do what it takes just to reach the postseason.Anze Kopitar scored one of his team’s three power-play goals, Jonathan Quick made 23 saves and the Kings moved back into playoff position with a 3-0 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday night.”Obviously, scoring three power-play goals goes a long way,” Kopitar said. ”I guess this time of year it doesn’t really matter how you do it but you’ve got to figure out ways to win, and we did that tonight.”Jeff Carter also scored and Dion Phaneuf had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who tied Anaheim for third place in the Pacific Division at 91 points. They also passed Colorado (90 points) and St. Louis (89) in the Western Conference wild-card race.Phaneuf gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 4:04 into the second period, scoring on a long shot from the blue line five seconds into a power play. All four of Phaneuf’s goals since being acquired from Ottawa in a Feb. 13 trade have come on the man advantage.Adrian Kempe got the lone assist for winning the faceoff against Troy Brouwer, and Tyler Toffoli set a screen that kept goalie Mike Smith from seeing Phaneuf’s shot.”The key on power play, if you get people to the net and you get opportunities for lanes to the net and you shoot the puck early, it really forces the penalty killers to turn and face their net Dallas Stars Hats Womens ,” Kings coach John Stevens said. ”Once Dion shot the first one there, it really had a ripple effect where guys were looking to move the puck quick and get it to the net.”Kopitar made it 2-0 at 11:55 with his seventh power-play goal of the season. Scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle, Kopitar matched his career high of 34 goals during the 2009-10 season. The Kings captain has five goals in his last three games.Flames forward Sam Bennett committed three penalties in the opening 30:21, with his infractions for high-sticking and tripping leading to the Kings’ first two power-play goals.Carter put Los Angeles in front 3-0 by following up his own rebound from close range at 8:24 of the third. He has 10 goals in 16 games since returning from surgery to repair a cut tendon in his ankle.Los Angeles scored three power-play goals in a game for the third time.Smith stopped 26 shots for the Flames, who were eliminated from playoff contention. Calgary has been outscored 28-7 during a six-game losing streak.”It’s tough to create against LA at the best of times, but I thought we limited them. Again, 5-on-5, there weren’t many chances out there. Just the specialty teams came into play,” Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said.Already without forwards Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk because of injury, the depleted Flames had to play without top scorer Johnny Gaudreau Custom Dallas Stars Jerseys , who was not with the team after his father had a cardiac event on Monday.The lack of scoring punch beyond those three, who have combined to score 78 of Calgary’s 203 goals, is something the Flames will have to address to get back into the playoff chase next season, Gulutzan said.”You can see that we’re a little bit dependent on some of our top guys to create most of our offense, and that’s an issue that is coming to light a little bit,” Gulutzan said.NOTES: Kings D Jake Muzzin did not return after sustaining an upper-body injury in the second period. Muzzin fell awkwardly into the boards following a hit by Micheal Ferland. … Dustin Brown had two assists.UP NEXTFlames: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.Kings: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.— The Anaheim Ducks have already experienced one of their best starts in franchise history, followed by one of their longest losing streaks.They’ve also played better against teams that are off to good starts this season, and have been sub-par against those that haven’t started out so well.Anaheim will try to continue one of those trends when they host the Minnesota Wild on Friday night at Honda Center.Article continues below ...Minnesota (9-4-2) has won eight of its past 10 following a 3-1 victory at the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.The Ducks (7-7-3) are 5-3-2 this season against teams that came into Thursday with a winning record, and 2-4-1 against teams that were .500 or below.The Calgary Flames were riding a four-game winning streak when they visited Anaheim on Wednesday night and lost 3-2.“That’s a reward, definitely www.redwingsshoponline.com , after the work we’ve put in the last couple weeks,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said.Getzlaf scored the go-ahead goal against Calgary at 6:33 of the third period, giving him eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past six games.“He was a difference maker, for sure,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.Minnesota second-line center Eric Staal returned Thursday after missing the 4-3 loss at the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday because of an illness, ending a streak of 335 straight appearances.Nino Niederreiter ended a 27-game goalless streak with a power-play score to tie the game 1-1 late in the first period. Zach Parise assisted on Niederreiter’s goal and scored in the second period to break the tie and earn the 700th point of his NHL career.“It’s always nice when you get to the milestones,” he told Fox Sports North.Minnesota goalie Alex Stalock is expected make his first NHL start against the Ducks in his eighth season. Devan Dubnyk played in Los Angeles on Thursday and made 27 saves.It will be Stalock’s fourth start this season.So far, he’s faced the top team in the Eastern Conference (a 5-4 overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning), the top team in the West (a 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators) and Detroit Red Wings T-Shirts Womens , most recently, made 34 saves in a 4-3 win at the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 30.Stalock’s only two appearances against the Ducks came with the San Jose Sharks during the 2013-14 season. Both came in relief of Antti Niemi.Minnesota is 3-0-0 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.Ryan Miller was solid in goal against the Flames, but John Gibson is expected to be back in net against Minnesota.Gibson is 4-1-1 in his career against the Wild with a 1.57 goals-against average and .951 save percentage, his best marks against any team in the Western Conference.Cam Fowler earned the 203rd assist of his NHL career against the Flames, moving him within one of Scott Niedermayer (204) for the all-time franchise lead in assists among defensemen.Fowler had his first career hat trick in a 3-2 overtime victory against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, ending Anaheim’s seven-game losing streak — one shy of the team record.