Vancouver Canucks hold off LA Kings 2-1

‘Their winning goal was definitely lucky. It hit a few things and then bounced off the ice and then was tipped in’

The Los Angeles Kings returned Wednesday from a four-day Christmas break, their longest vacation of the season’s first half. Yet, given the way they stumbled through the start of the first two periods, it appeared as if they forgot to leave a wakeup call.
And the Vancouver Canucks took full advantage, with Loui Eriksson’s goal less than three minutes after the opening faceoff and Henrik Sedin’s score 23 seconds into the second period proving enough to get them past the sleepwalking Kings, 2-1.
Tanner Pearson scored for the Kings late in the third period, rolling the puck up the stick of Vancouver forward Alexandre Burrows and into the net to add a little suspense to the game’s final 3 minutes 17 seconds. It didn’t change the result, however.
“I thought we deserved a little better,” said defenseman Drew Doughty, whose slap shot from the left side in the final minute just missed the far post. “But you’ve got to play well for 60 minutes in this league in order to win games.
“I was pretty frustrated with our start.”
It was a start that included three penalties in less than nine minutes. And Eriksson made the Kings pay for the first one, scoring on a power play 2:43 after the opening faceoff.
With Jake Muzzin in the penalty box for high-sticking, Eriksson found himself alone behind the goal line on the right side. Bo Horvat, trapped along the boards, managed to slip the puck to Eriksson between the legs of Kings defenseman Derek Forbort and the Vancouver winger did the rest, skating in on goal and pushing a shot past Peter Budaj at the far post.
It was the first power-play score the Kings have given up in 27 tries over 11 games. And it got worse from there, with Sedin doubling Vancouver’s lead 23 seconds into the second period.
Forbort, again trying to control the puck near the boards at the right faceoff circle, got tied up this time by Daniel Sedin. When the puck came off his stick it rolled straight to rookie defender Troy Stecher, who sent a two-hop pass toward the net that Henrik Sedin was able to deflect under Budaj’s pads.
“It was two on two down the ice,” Kings Coach Darryl Sutter said. “They shouldn’t get a shot.”
Added Doughty: “Their winning goal was definitely pretty lucky. It hit a few things and then bounced off the ice and then was tipped in.”
On the other end, Sutter’s move to put Anze Kopitar with Dustin Brown and Marian Gaborik on the first line fizzled. Although the Kings outshot Vancouver, 31-8, over the last two periods, Pearson was the only one to find the back of the net, leaving the team with only 10 goals in its last six games, none from Kopitar, Brown or Gaborik.
That’s a drought that could continue since Tyler Toffoli, whose eight goals are tied for second on the team, was put on injured reserve Wednesday.
“We don’t have a lot of scoring in our lineup. Especially with Tyler out,” Sutter said. “You get down one, you’re fine. But you get down two, you are playing a different game then.”
Add it all up and it was too much to overcome against a Canucks team that has more home victories over the Kings (63) than against any other NHL team.
“Every team prides themselves at being good at home,” said Pearson, whose goal was his first in six weeks. “You’ve to expect that going on the road. And tonight they came out ready to go.”

RESULTS
Vancouver      2 Los Angeles      1
St. Louis           6 Philadelphia     3
Tampa Bay     4 Montreal   3 (OT)
Toronto           3 Florida       2 (SO)
Pittsburgh      3 Carolina              2