Quick shines with 27 saves as Kings smother Stars 4-0

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Adrian Kempe and Arthur Kaliyev scored as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Dallas Stars 4-0 on Thursday night.

Jonathan Quick made 27 saves for his second shutout of the season and 56th of his career. Viktor Arvidsson and Andreas Athanasiou added empty-net goals. Jake Oettinger allowed two goals on 39 shots for the Stars, who were playing the second game of a back-to-back. They've dropped two straight following a seven-game winning streak.

Kempe gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the second period, scoring on a breakaway off quick passes by Dustin Brown and Phillip Danualt.

Danault got Los Angeles out in transition after taking the puck from Roope Hintz, leading to Kempe's fourth goal in the past five games.

Kaliyev made it 2-0 with 5:28 remaining in the third, and Arvidsson pushed the lead to 3-0 with 1:19 to go.

Athanasiou, who returned after missing six games in COVID-19 protocol, got the Kings' fourth goal with 31 seconds to play.

Dallas entered as one of the hottest teams in the Western Conference, with a 9-2-0 mark in its previous 11 games. But after a disheartening 5-4 loss at Vegas on Wednesday when the Stars wasted a pair of two-goal leads, coach Rick Bowness shuffled his bottom six forwards and inserted forward Tanner Kero and defenseman Joel Hanley into the lineup.

It didn't seem to have much of an effect early as Dallas was outshot 20-9 in the opening period. However, Quick had to make more key stops through 40 minutes for Los Angeles to hold its advantage.

For the Kings, it was a critical result given their erratic recent play. They had won just two of their previous 10 games, with an impressive 5-1 win at Edmonton on Sunday quickly erased by an embarrassing 4-0 loss to struggling Vancouver the next night.

Los Angeles went 1-4-2 on its previous homestand, so there was added importance to taking care of business during this brief two-game stint at home.