Angeles ended its longest skid in coach Darryl Sutters tenure wi

LOS ANGELES -- Just a few minutes into his first game back from a serious groin strain, Jonathan Quick had to do the splits to make a save. Pierre Thomas Saints Jersey . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Dustin Brown tied it early in the third period and Carter added an empty-net goal as Los Angeles ended its longest skid in coach Darryl Sutters tenure with a late rally. They also got a boost from the return of their Conn Smythe Trophy-winning goalie, who hadnt played since injuring his groin Nov. 12 in Buffalo. "The team played great in front of me," Quick said. "I gave up a couple of rebounds, and the guys cleared them out. We kept fighting and got a couple of breaks." Quick was selected for his second U.S. Olympic team Wednesday despite his lengthy absence, and the Kings put their $58 million goalie right back in the lineup immediately after activating him from injured reserve. He gave up an early power-play goal, but shut down the Canucks over the final 47 minutes -- including two breathtaking stops on a breakaway by Daniel Sedin in the final seconds. "We know who he is," Carter said. "First game back, I thought he was sharp." Ryan Kesler scored for the Canucks, who lost their third straight despite 46 saves by Roberto Luongo in his own return from a three-game injury absence since Dec. 22. "We dont have a sniff of a chance if he doesnt play the way he did," Vancouver coach John Tortorella said of Luongo. "I shudder to think what the score would be. So lets not kid ourselves. The game wasnt as close as the score. We have a ton of work to do." Sutter coached his 1,000th NHL game as his team stumbled home from a winless four-game road trip. Although their scoreless streak stretched to 120 minutes, the Kings rallied to win when trailing after two periods for the first time since Nov. 14. Brown finally cracked Luongos shutout bid on the Kings 37th shot, knocking home a cross-ice puck from Justin Williams -- and then accidentally kicking Luongo in the face when Mike Santorelli upended him in the crease. Carter scored the tiebreaker after an exceptional play by Dwight King, who lifted Jason Garrisons stick and outraced the Vancouver defenceman to a puck before putting a pass on Carters tape for his 14th goal. "(King) made a heck of a play there," Carter said after his second multigoal game of the season. "I thought we did a lot of good things in the first two periods, but Luongo played really good. We stuck with it and kept working." Carter gave no chance to Luongo, but the veteran has been solid all season for the Canucks, boosting the gold medal winners chances of being Canadas starting goalie in Sochi next month. "Carter released it quick, and it went through our D-men," Luongo said. "Youve got to give him credit. It was a good shot, but I would have liked to have gotten a piece of that." Quick could be Luongos starting counterpart for the U.S. team, although hell have to prove hes back in top form over the next five weeks. Quick looked sharp in the opening minutes, but Kesler scored his 16th goal while falling to the ice, beating his fellow U.S. Olympians glove off a cross-ice pass from Daniel Sedin. The goal eased Vancouvers 1-for-19 slump on the power play over the last seven games. "In our division, were going to have to learn to battle harder, and it starts with our forwards, as far as the forecheck," Tortorella said. "Our D was under siege all night long, and if were going to compete in our division, we need to be more consistent." NOTES: The Kings didnt immediately have to make a corresponding roster move when Quick was activated because they traded F Daniel Carcillo to the New York Rangers earlier in the day. Carcillo went scoreless in his final 23 games with Los Angeles. ... The 55-year-old Sutter is the 22nd NHL head coach to reach 1,000 games. ... The Kings scratched D Matt Greene. Saints #80 Jersey . The two-hour TSN original production, which is also available live on TSN Mobile TV, features the first two rounds of the draft with CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon in the CFL ON TSN studio to announce each selection. Saints #21 Jersey . The six-foot-four, 255-pound defensive end re-signed with Winnipeg on Monday after spending this season in the National Football League. ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild found out during the second intermission their spot in the playoffs was secure. Satisfaction came only after they won their way in with a strong finish. Mikko Koivu had the only score in the shootout after Ryan Suters goal tied the game with 65 seconds remaining in regulation, and the Wild beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Tuesday night to clinch a wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoffs. "We wanted to get in the right way," said right wing Jason Pominville, who had two goals and an assist. "We stuck to it and found a way to score one late, and I think its a sign of a good team when you get in the right way against the best team in the NHL right now." Koivu, who had two assists, switched to his backhand to flip the puck past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask in the second round. When goalie Ilya Bryzgalov stopped Brad Marchands try with his pad to end it, he pumped his arms as he skated out of the crease to celebrate with his teammates. The Wild will be the seventh seed and face the division winner with the fewest points. "The message was, Lets not wait for anything. Lets not back our way into anything. Lets not come through the back door. Lets go charging through the front door," coach Mike Yeo said. "And what a better way to do it against a team like Boston." As play was about to begin for the third period, the overtime loss by ninth-place Phoenix at Columbus that guaranteed a place in the post-season for Minnesota was announced to the crowd and received with a hearty cheer. The Wild then went a step further by assuring themselves of the top wild-card slot by rallying for the win. They kept up the pressure in overtime after Suters delivery, outshooting the Bruins 6-2 in overtime. Reilly Smith, Patrice Bergeron and Loui Eriksson scored for the Bruins, who fell to 16-1-3 in their past 20 games. The Bruins, who clinched the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs, held leading scorer Jarome Iginla out for the third time in the past four games because of a lower-body injury. Iginla became the biggest threat to the Wild during his days with then-division rival Calgary. His 677 points, including 37 goals, in 71 career games are the most by any Minnesota opponent. Benjamin Watson Saints Jersey. "Try to get some rest for certain guys and still try to play good hockey," Rask said. "Theres still something to play for. But its not always easy to find that 100 per cent perfect game in these situations." Late in the second period, Zdeno Chara wound up from the point on a power play. Eriksson and Gregory Campbell were parked just outside the crease, and the puck appeared to deflect first off Campbells stick before Eriksson poked it in for the lead with 3:42 left before the break. That didnt mean they were playing their best, though. "I felt we were a little sloppy tonight. We werent very sharp in our passing and our playmaking," coach Claude Julien said. "We didnt have everybody really playing that well. Some of our big players were just very average." Bryzgalov, the latest unlikely leader to emerge for the Wild, made 44 saves over the past two games to blank Pittsburgh and Winnipeg and put Minnesota on the brink of the post-season. His shutout streak ended at 145 minutes and 15 seconds, when Smith sent in an unassisted power-play goal for his 20th score this season. But Bryzgalov, who took over for Darcy Kuemper when the rookie suffered an upper-body injury last month, improved to 7-0-3 since arriving at the trade deadline. "The quicker you can clinch, the better it is," an impressed Julien said. Last season, the Wild limped to the No. 8 seed by winning their final game to finish 5-8-1 in April. This time, theyll have more momentum. "We played ourselves into the playoffs the way that you want to. It says a lot about the guys in here, and hopefully we can keep this thing going here," Suter said. NOTES: Wild goalie Josh Harding, the winner of the NHLs Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy last year for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the sport, was announced Tuesday as the teams repeat nominee for the award. Harding has been on injured reserve since Jan. 2, continuing to deal with multiple sclerosis, but returned to practice with the Wild last Wednesday. ... Bergeron has 10 goals in his past 11 games. ' ' '