Before two years ago, most people had never heard the name Jonathan Quick outside the Los Angeles Kings‘ fan base. Quick made a name for himself though, as he led the eighth seeded Kings to a Stanley Cup victory over the New Jersey Devils. Quick had an amazing playoff run as the Kings defeated the top-three seeded teams in the Western Conference.

Quick boasted 1.41 goals against average and was named the Conn Smythe winner. Now, everyone who follows hockey knows his name. He is widely respected as one of the best goaltenders in the game. The Kings are going to need him to be at his best again this season if they hope to bring the Stanley Cup back to L.A. With the new alignment, the Kings are still in the same division as the Anaheim Ducks, who currently have only one loss on the season, and the San Jose Sharks. However, they are now in the same division as the Vancouver Canucks as well.

The Kings have some offensive firepower with Justin Williams, Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. In order for them to return to postseason glory, though, they will need Quick to be the best player on the ice every night. He is capable of doing that as we saw in the 2012 playoffs. Quick showed this Saturday night against the Dallas Stars as he helped his team secure a 5-2 win over the former-division rivals. The Stars have some offensive weapons that can put the puck in the back of the net but Quick stepped up and made 21 saves. This is the type of outing he must have for L.A. to be successful.

Greg Higgins is an NHL contributor for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greghiggins457, Like him on Facebook, and add him to your network on Google.

Related:

Los Angeles Kings: Each Jonathan Quick Mistake Will Be Magnified This Season