LOS ANGELES — Jonathan Quick will walk into Crypto.com Arena on Saturday as a visitor for the first time in his 16-year NHL career.
If he had his first meeting with the Kings, the team he thought he was going to retire with, on Dec. 10 at Madison Square Garden circled on his calendar, the future Hall-of-Fame goaltender must have had his return to Los Angeles highlighted, underlined and with arrows drawn toward it.
As much as that 25-save, 4-1 victory over the Kings earlier this season clearly meant to Quick, Saturday will no doubt mean even more.
Skating out to play against the organization that drafted him 72nd-overall in 2005, in the city he grew up in and started his family, in front of the fans he delivered Stanley Cups to in 2012 and 2014, should make for an emotional experience.
Quick was given a warm welcome back to Las Vegas on Thursday night, when the T-Mobile Arena jumbotron played a hearty video montage of the 10 games he played for the Golden Knights last season en route to securing his third ring.
Still, it’s well known that Quick took it hard when the Kings traded him to the Blue Jackets, who then flipped him to Vegas.
When Quick makes his first appearance in Los Angeles in a Rangers jersey, it will mark his 755th career start and tie him with Tom Barrasso for the third most by American-born goaltenders in NHL history.
Kings fans will have the opportunity to properly show their appreciation for the 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, who is the franchise’s all-time leader in myriad categories.
Quick holds Kings records for regular-season games played (743), wins (370), shutouts (57), career save percentage (.911), 20-win seasons (nine), 30-win seasons (six) and 40-win seasons (1), as well as playoff games played (92), wins (49), shutouts (10), save percentage (.921) and goals-against average (2.31).
Backstopping the team he grew up rooting for to a much-needed victory, against the club he spent a majority of his career with, would be the perfect early birthday present for Quick, who turns 38 on Sunday.
For the Rangers, however, it should ignite some added motivation like it did during their first meeting with the Kings in December.
The Rangers recalled Matthew Robertson from AHL Hartford in a precautionary move for a banged-up defenseman, according to a source.
