Jonathan Quick’s scorpion kick is the new front-runner for save of the year (Video)

The Los Angeles Kings may have fallen out of the race for the top spot in the Pacific, due largely to their inability to score goals, but they're still a very formidable foe for one big reason: they may struggle to score, but so do their opponents.

That's because, even if you do manage to get a puck past their defense, you still have to sneak it past Jonathan Quick, and that's tough. Even when he looks beaten, there's still the very real possibility that Quick will rob you by way of hot scorpion magic.

That's a very real thing. Watch Quick demonstrate it on this save, which is arguably -- scratch that, I mean totally absolutely obviously -- the save of the year:

Hot. Scorpion. Magic.

Jonathan Quick's got scorpion blood. There is no other explanation for this. Completely down and out, he robs Blake Wheeler with that impossible back-kick.

We've seen saves like this before. Martin Brodeur famously stopped a New York Rangers' goal with a similar move in the 2012 playoffs.

But, just like Quick beat Brodeur in that year's Final, Quick wins again here. Quick doesn't just kick and hope for the best. He finds this puck and puts the leg exactly where it needs to be. From his stomach. With some insane extension. It's magic.

Thanks to injuries, Quick's had to sit back and watch several other LA net minders get the love that is rightly his. Ben Scrivens had his time in the sun. Martin Jones was beloved for a time. This save is like a declaration that the Kings may make their goalies look good, but Jonathan Quick makes himself look good.

It was a big save too, keeping the Jets down by a couple and allowing the Kings to hold off Winnipeg for a 4-2 victory.