Jonathan Quick and John Gibson put on a goaltending clinic the last time they met.

They likely will face off again when the Los Angeles Kings play host to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night. It will be the Kings’ regular-season home finale.

Quick made 29 saves for the Kings in a 2-1 win at Anaheim on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Quick came back with 15 saves in a 4-1 win against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, the third straight game he limited the opposition to one goal.

“He feels real good in the net right now and we feel good with him in the net right now,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said.

The win against the Ducks on Tuesday and the Blackhawks on Thursday helped keep the Kings five points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights for third place in the Pacific Division.

A win against the Ducks would move the Kings one win away from clinching a playoff spot, after missing the postseason each of the last three seasons.

“We should be getting excited about the opportunity and the best thing that we have is control,” McLellan said.

Gibson made 26 saves against the Kings this week, but took the loss for the 14th time in his past 15 starts (1-11-3).

Gibson, who started for the Pacific Division in the NHL All-Star Game in February, has been sharper in recent games, setting a franchise record with 52 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss at the Florida Panthers on April 12.

He earned his first win since March 1 in a 6-4 victory against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, and then came back with the strong performance against the Kings.

Gibson is 14-9-0 in 24 appearances against the Kings with a 2.34 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.

Quick is 26-13-9 in 50 career appearances against the Ducks with a 2.37 goals-against average and .912 save percentage.

Regardless of the playoff implications on Saturday night, the goaltending matchup figures to be one to watch again.

“When I think of the Kings-Ducks rivalry, I think of Gibson and Quick,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said “I thought they were both going at it (on Tuesday). It was very reminiscent of battles of the past. I thought Quick was very good and Gibby was right there matching him.”

Quick, 36, won his 20th game of the season against the Ducks, the ninth time he has reached that milestone in his NHL career.

Gibson, 28, needs two more wins to reach the 20-win mark for the sixth time in his career.

In order for the Ducks to help Gibson get there, they’ll need to stay sharp on their power play.

Anaheim scored its only goal on Tuesday with the man-advantage, and pressured Quick heavily on the other three power plays.

The Ducks are 13th in the NHL on the power play

“Our power play was back to where we were earlier in the year,” Eakins said. “We had multiple, multiple chances (against the Kings). We were highly dangerous.”

–Field Level Media

The Florida Panthers will take aim at a franchise-record 13th consecutive victory Saturday night when they meet the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Panthers defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 on Thursday to extend their winning streak and match the franchise record of 12 straight set from Dec. 15, 2015 to Jan. 10, 2016.

Coupled with the Maple Leafs’ 8-1 road loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, the Panthers have clinched the Eastern Conference’s top seed and have a chance to beat out the Colorado Avalanche for top spot in the league overall.

“Proud of the group,” Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette said. “It’s been a heck of a year. To (finish with the top record) would be a big bonus. It’s probably not over yet, but, again, with all these little things we just want to keep going, keep building. We’ve got another game Saturday.”

The Panthers (56-15-6, 118 points) and the Maple Leafs (51-21-6, 108 points) have split two games this season. Florida overcame a 5-1 deficit at home to defeat Toronto 7-6 in overtime on April 5. It was win No. 5 in the 12-game streak.

“You don’t have too many times in your career, or in your life, that you can be on a team like this,” Brunette said. “We’re a long, long way to getting to be where we want to be, but (the players) love playing with each other, and they love to compete together. Those are all fun signs.”

Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists Thursday and has 113 points as he contends for the NHL scoring lead with Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. They were tied for the lead heading into play Friday.

The Maple Leafs will be out to atone for the embarrassing loss to the Lightning on Thursday in what was a possible preview of a first-round playoff series.

“You just get a little sample of how hard you need to play and how well you need to play to be able to beat a team of that quality when they are playing at that level,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

In their previous visit to Tampa Bay on April 4, the Maple Leafs won 6-2 with Auston Matthews scoring three goals. Matthews (undisclosed injury) has missed the past three games.

“The way I see it is, the last time we were in here you know how the game went and you saw how their team responded,” Keefe said. “To me it was clear that the game meant more to them than it did to us, and it showed in how they played and how they competed. That’s what happens when that’s the case.”

As the game got away from the Maple Leafs on Thursday, the game became chippy with several skirmishes.

As a result, two Toronto players were fined. Kyle Clifford was fined $2,500 for high-sticking Tampa Bay’s Corey Perry and Wayne Simmonds was fined $2,250 for charging Mikhail Sergachev. The fines were the highest allowed under the collective bargaining agreement.

Toronto’s Erik Kallgren allowed eight goals on 36 shots Thursday. Jack Campbell will make his scheduled start in goal for the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

“We’re disappointed in the way we played,” the Maple Leafs’ John Tavares said. “Just not helping out our goaltender, especially. Second, it’s a good lesson for us going forward to understand the way we need to play, obviously against a team like this.

“They don’t need a whole lot and the game can change really quickly there in the second period after a pretty good first for us.”

–Field Level Media

The Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning have plenty at stake when they conclude their season series Saturday night in Florida.

In the teams’ second matchup this season, playoff security and positioning are at the forefront in the interconference contest.

On Feb. 26 in the first ever NHL Stadium Series matchup to take place at Nashville, Tenn., the Lightning turned to captain Steven Stamkos, who had three points as Tampa Bay prevailed 3-2 at the home stadium of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.

The final meeting Saturday night will not force the teams to consider outdoor conditions, but will have more significance attached.

The Lightning (47-22-8, 102 points) have locked down a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs and are looking to three-peat as league champions.

However, a rough go of it in March, when coach Jon Cooper’s squad went 8-7-0, has slotted the Lightning into third place in the Atlantic Division, behind leader Florida and second-place Toronto.

With five regular-season games remaining, the Lightning are just three points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins, who have been jockeying for third in their respective divisions. At least one of those three clubs will occupy a wild-card spot and face a division winner when the postseason begins.

The Lightning did their best Thursday night to maintain third place over Atlantic Division foe Boston, which was blanked 4-0 by the Penguins.

Following a scoreless first period Thursday, Tampa Bay poured it on against the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring four goals in each of the remaining frames for an 8-1 victory. It brought the Lightning within six points of second-place Toronto.

The Lightning received three-point showings from Alex Killorn (two goals), Ross Colton (two goals), Stamkos (one goal) and Ondrej Palat (one goal), plus a 36-save performance from Andrei Vasilevskiy (36-18-5).

Stamkos’ four straight multipoint games helped him set the franchise record for career points with 956, eclipsing Martin St. Louis’ mark of 953. The captain now has 473 goals and 483 assists over 14 seasons with Tampa Bay.

“It’s crazy the production he’s had,” said Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman. “He has been phenomenal (and) the games that he’s missed and he’s still only (32)-years-old and has that record already. Says a lot about his determination, his skill level.”

Nashville (44-28-5, 93 points) holds the Western Conference’s top wild-card spot, but that advantage is only two points over the No. 2 wild-card Dallas Stars and four over the Vegas Golden Knights, the first club outside of a playoff position.

Already with a game in hand over those two teams, the Predators could pad their advantage with a victory at Tampa.

Nashville, which is 3-3-1 over the past seven games, won its last time on the ice, earning a 3-2 shootout home win over the Pacific-leading Calgary Flames on Tuesday, while securing the extra point for the two-point edge over the Stars.

Mikael Granlund notched the only shootout marker, and goalie Juuse Saros improved his record to 38-24-3 in the victory.

“I think when you come down the stretch like this, you’ve got to play meaningful hockey,” said Predators coach John Hynes. “It’s what this time of year is about.”

Matt Duchene skated in his 900th career game and scored his 40th goal to become the first 40-goal scorer in Nashville history.

–Field Level Media