During practice today, Dean Lombardi talked extensively about rookie goalie Jonathan Quick, including Quick’s development over the past couple years, where his game is right now and the possibility that Quick could stick around for the long term. In the first part, Lombardi talks about Quick’s first year in the organization, in which he had to overcome a couple problems. Click below for the rest of the interview…

LOMBARDI: “He showed up late for practice a couple times, and that had to be dealt with. That wasn’t pretty. Then he worked his way back, and then he was a big part when that Manchester team last year was six points out of a playoff spot. They went on that run and he was a big part of carrying that team. That whole team played well, but he was a big part of it. It’s the not the first time. Nabokov had to do a little stint there. It’s not unusual. If you go back in history, guys have had to do little stints down there. The East Coast league is for goalies and tough guys. You can find guys like that down there.”
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— Jonathan Quick will be back in goal tomorrow. I’ll have much more on the later, but the short answer is that Quick’s “emergency” status can easily be changed via paperwork. In talking to Lombardi and Murray today, they seem very inclined to let Quick keep going.

— Erik Ersberg completed a full practice without incident and said he feels 100 percent, so the Kings will have to do something with the roster between Monday and Saturday.

— Jack Johnson is becoming more involved in practice but still isn’t cleared for contact. That could happen on Jan. 10.

— Sean O’Donnell missed practice to tend to some nagging injuries but is expected to play tomorrow.

— No lineup changes expected tomorrow.

I have a ton of quotes, and quite a bit of stuff on Quick, so I’ll be posting stuff throughout the late afternoon and evening.

The Kings aren’t practicing until 12:30 p.m. today, so stay tuned for a full report later. We’ll try to answer the eternal question: What’s the meaning of life? Or an even tougher question to answer: What are the Kings going to do in goal?

Here’s the postgame interview Jonathan Quick did with Bob and Jim…

(on whether there was anything different in his game tonight…)
“No, not much. I think we came together and played a full 60 (minutes) tonight, which helped me out a lot. We played well yesterday, but we had a little extra today, and it went a long way.”

(on the timing aspect of the game for a goalie coming up from the AHL…)
“Just reading shots, picking up shots off the stick and passes, and the speed they’re coming into the zone. You start to pick that up, and it’s a bit easier to stop the puck.”

(on facing all the power plays in the third period…)
“Once again, our penalty kill, they did great. They did a great job blocking shots for me and cleaning up the rebounds that I did give up. I’m just glad to get the win, and the team has a little bit of momentum going back to L.A. against Columbus on Monday.”

(on developing good communication with the Kings’ defensemen…)
“It has taken me a little more time than I wished, but we try to run the same system in Manchester that we do up here. I think we end up doing it a little bit different, but it’s just a couple games and a couple practices, and I’ll figure it out.”

Quite a nice turnaround for the Kings tonight, as Jonathan Quick made 26 saves for his second shutout of the season, and his second shutout in six NHL starts. It was made all the more impressive by a third period in which the Kings had to kill five minor penalties.

The game was essentially over after a 3-0 first period, which included two power-play goals. Ivanans, Frolov and Stoll scored in the first period, and Frolov added another one in the second period. Purcell and Quincey each had two assists.

A nice bounce-back game for the Kings. I’ll pass along any postgame quotes/notes if I get them, and check back tomorrow, as I’ll be at practice tomorrow and will have a full report…

For those looking for a recap of tonight’s game, I’ll updating the scoring and anything notable here. Come on down to the chat below if you want to talk about the game…

It’s Quick vs. Bryzgalov in goal. Tom Preissing is scratched, replaced by John Zeiler. Peter Harrold moves back to defense.

FIRST PERIOD
KINGS GOAL: Raitis Ivanans, from Jarret Stoll and Trevor Lewis, 14:06.
KINGS GOAL: Alexander Frolov, from Kyle Quincey and Teddy Purcell (PP), 17:27.
KINGS GOAL: Jarret Stoll, from Teddy Purcell and Kyle Quincey (PP), 19:40.

SECOND PERIOD
KINGS GOAL: Alexander Frolov, from Michal Handzus and Peter Harrold, 8:56.

Thanks for chatting tonight, everyone…

KINGS COACH TERRY MURRAY:
(Re: game recap): “Well you can’t play a game in the NHL and play only 20 minutes and expect to win. Those days are done. You have to come and play right from the beginning. You have to play 60 minutes of hard, intense and very heavy hockey, and in the first two periods we were not going, we didn’t have it. The third period was what we needed for the 60 minutes.”

(Re: Jonathan Quick’s play): “The goaltender played very well. He made a couple very big stops, one on a two-on-one. We get caught and he made a tremendous save on that lateral move. He gave us a chance tonight, and he’s taking advantage of the opportunities he’s been given and we like what we see.”

KINGS FORWARD ANZE KOPITAR:
(Re: game recap): “We were rusty in the first two [periods]. We didn’t play with as much energy as we did the last game in Columbus. Maybe it was because we had the two days off and we didn’t skate, but that shouldn’t be our excuse. Everybody should come here and be ready to go and it showed in this league. You have got to play 60 minutes, not just 20.”

(Re: Quick’s performance): “He made some good saves and with a two-goal game going into the third, it’s pretty much anybody’s game. We scored one but we came up short with the second one.”

KINGS GOALTENDER JONATHAN QUICK
(Re: game recap): “The team battled; we just came up a little short. These are games that we need to win, being division games, it’s a four-point game. We’ve got to refocus and go back into Phoenix tomorrow and try to come out with a different outcome.”

(Re: third consecutive start) “It’s a great feeling. It shows the coach’s confidence in you. That’s a great feeling. I’m just trying to help out and do what I can to keep the team in the game.”

KINGS FORWARD PATRICK O’SULLIVAN
(Re: game recap): “I don’t think we came ready to play. The first two periods weren’t very good on our part, and I think that’s the difficult thing right now. We were really good in the third (period), but it’s tough coming off a two-day break, They were more ready to play than we were, but the good thing about our game is that we’ve got another one tomorrow, so we can come back with a better effort.”

KINGS NOTES:

Peter Harrold scored his second goal, equaling his total from last season.

Patrick O’Sullivan now has 16 points in the last 18 games (6-10=16).

Anze Kopitar now has 11 points in the last 11 games (5-6=11).

Kopitar won 13-of-18 faceoffs tonight (72 percent).

Tonight’s game stared at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time. For the Coyotes, at least. The Kings showed up at the start of the third period, at which point they already trailed 2-0. They made a good show of it in the third period, and Jonathan Quick helped keep them alive with 24 saves, but it wasn’t enough. Peter Harrold’s power-play goal, his second goal in as many games, made it 2-1 with just over 11 minutes to play, but the Kings couldn’t tie it.

Harrold’s goal came with him on the ice as a defenseman. His shot from the point beat Ilya Bryzgalov, with Anze Kopitar and Patrick O’Sullivan getting assists, and Dustin Brown getting an unofficial assist for providing a screen in front. The Kings had an outstanding chance to tie the game in the final 30 seconds, with Bryzgalov out of position, but Kopitar couldn’t make solid contact with the puck in front of the net.

Phoenix outshot the Kings 26-25. The Kings totaled 11 shots in the third period and a combined 14 in the first two periods. The Kings went 1 for 3 on the power play while the Coyotes went 1 for 4. Peter Mueller scored a first-period goal and Shane Doan scored a second-period goal.

Tom Preissing didn’t have a shift in the third period, presumably by coach’s choice and not because of an injury…

Quotes and notes to follow soon…