NHL: Los Angeles 3, Calgary 0

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CALGARY, Alberta, March 29 (UPI) -- Jonathan Quick had to make only 19 saves to collect his ninth shutout of the season Wednesday, bringing the Los Angeles Kings a 3-0 victory over Calgary.

Quick tied Brian Elliott of the St. Louis for the NHL lead in shutouts this season and boosted the Kings to a critical win in the tight Western Conference playoff race.

Los Angeles moved into a tie for seventh and eighth place with San Jose at 88 points, one in front of Phoenix and one behind Dallas -- which took over the Pacific Division lead Wednesday.

With the Kings' defense limiting Calgary's scoring chances, Los Angeles took the lead 5:30 into the game when Willie Mitchell's slap shot eluded Miikka Kiprusoff.

Dustin Brown scored in the second period and Justin Williams tacked on an empty-net goal with 1:09 to play in the game.

Kiprusoff stopped 25-of-27 shots.