Iginla’s 600th goal helps Avs beat Kings 4-1

Colorado Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla has been known as one of the NHL’s most impressive goal scorers since he entered the league in 1996.

His centering pass went off the skate of Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin past goalie Jhonas Enroth at 13 minutes 2 seconds of the third period in Colorado’s 4-1 victory over the Kings.

The Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche square off Monday night at the Pepsi Center.

On another power play early in the third, Matt Duchene deflected Barrie’s shot past Enroth to make it 3-1. Iginla admitted it would have been nice to score the goal during that game. For the Kings, Tyler Toffoli scored their only goal of the evening on the power play in the second period, knotting the game at 1-1.

The timing of the goal is great for Iginla because it came against the Kings who are now coached by Darryl Sutter, who was Iginla’s coach for three years in Calgary, including the 2003-04 season when Iginla and Sutter helped lead the Flames to the Stanley Cup Final where they almost won it all against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

After his team fell behind 2-0, right winger Bobby Ryan assisted on Ottawa’s first tally late in the second period, then scored successive goals, including the overtime victor. Quick was 4-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average. Los Angeles G Jonathan Quick was selected the NHL’s first star for the week ending Sunday. Dwight King sent defenseman Zach Redmond sliding into the Avalanche goalie, which dislodged the goal.

The Kings tried to comeback in the third period, but once again shot themselves in the foot with penalties.

“We were all guilty, including myself, of wanting to see him scoring there, and we lost focus”, Roy said. The 38-year-old Iginla is the fifth player to reach the milestone in the last 10 seasons, joining Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Joe Sakic, and most recently Teemu Selanne who scored his 600th in 2010.

Congratulations to Jarome Iginla on an incredible accomplishment.

“We know that we can play a lot better than we have in the last few games; we aren’t happy with the way we have finished the last few games”, Landeskog told the media before Monday’s meeting with the Los Angeles Kings. “It’s not something you need to force”.

With the notable exception of Erik Johnson’s troubling injury, just about everything came up in the Avs favor in this one.