2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Quick Outlasts Schneider Once Again

They faced each other as goaltenders in New England high school hockey, and again soon after in NCAA-play when UMass did battle with Boston College.

They finally faced off in the NHL this past week with even higher stakes—and it was Jonathan Quick getting the best of Cory Schneider as the Los Angeles Kings eliminated the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks, four games to one, in the first round of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Quick came out ahead in prep school when his Avon Old Farms team defeated Schneider and Phillips Andover Academy. He did so again in college during the 2006-07 season, when his Minutemen took two of three head-to-head meetings with Schneider's Eagles.

Quick completed the trifecta/hat trick on Sunday night as eighth-seeded L.A. ousted host Vancouver, 2-1, in overtime. Jarret Stoll's left-circle shot over Schneider's right shoulder put an early end to another Presidents' Trophy-winning campaign by the Canucks, and sent L.A. on to the second round for the first time since 2001, when the Kings upset Detroit in six contests.

''To close out this series, for me personally, and a few guys in the room, it's something we've never done, so it's a great feeling,'' said Quick afterwards at yahoo.com.

He finished with 165 saves in the five games against Vancouver, allowing just eight goals while also recording one shutout. He went 35-21-3 during the regular season with a 1.95 goals-against average and a club-record 10 shutouts.

Schneider, of Marblehead, Mass., who will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, made 43 saves in a 3-1 win in Game 4 in L.A. to keep the Canucks alive for one more game. He had 35 stops on Sunday, while Quick posted 27 saves and shut the door after Henrik Sedin scored just over 14 minutes into Game 5 to put Vancouver up, 1-0.

"Quick didn't miss on a single puck the whole series," said Schneider, who finished 20-8-1 in the regular season himself with a 1.96 GAA and three shutouts.

Canucks starter Roberto Luongo took a pair of 4-2 losses in Games 1 and 2 in Vancouver before giving way to Schneider, who suffered a 1-0 loss in Game 3 against the Kings, and then stopped a penalty shot in Game 4 to boost Vancouver to its only win of the series.

Schneider, who appeared several times in last year's Stanley Cup Finals against Boston, made 97 saves on 101 shots in his three-plus playoff games this spring, but couldn't extend the Canucks' season in what might have been his final appearance with the club. The former All-American netminder from BC, who backstopped the Eagles to consecutive NCAA national title games in his last two years, will command more than a bit of attention on the free-agent market, unless the Canucks can somehow re-sign him.

The Canucks will go back and try to pick up the pieces, one year after falling one win short of their first Stanley Cup championship. The Kings and Quick, meanwhile, will now face the second-seeded St. Louis Blues, a five-game winner over San Jose, in the second round starting later this week.