The Los Angeles Kings are struggling at the moment, entering tonight's contest vs. the Colorado Avalanche as losers of three straight, and the Avs certainly weren't about to let a sinking team ahead of them in the standings find their footing in the Pepsi Center. The Avs knocked off LA 4-1 in a wire-to-wire victory on Wednesday night. The win propels Colorado to 30-27-4, while Los Angeles falls to 27-22-12.
The Avs charged to a 3-0 lead out of the gates behind goals from Mark Olver, Paul Stastny and Jay McClement. That was enough for Los Angeles to pull starting goalie Jonathan Quick, but the damage was already done. Stastny would also beat Kings backup goalie Jonathan Bernier in the second period to push the lead to 4-0. It was the 15th and 16th scores of the year for Stastny.
Dustin Brown scored his 15th goal of the year to spoil the shutout for Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov, who was otherwise brilliant.
LA out-shot Colorado 33-27 on the evening.
For more coverage, visit our Avalanche blog Mile High Hockey and our Kings blog Jewels From The Crown.