The Los Angeles Kings rallied from down two goals to steal a victory on the road from the Vancouver Canucks.
Justin Williams and Jaret Stoll scored less than a minute apart in the waning minutes of the third period and the Kings stunned the Canucks 3-2 for just their third road victory in the past month.
“Good road game by everybody,” said Stoll after the game. “Hopefully we can use this as a little springboard for road games and get our road record going.”
The Kings have been one of the best teams on home ice this season, but have struggled significantly on the road. They are 5-8-6 on the road this year, and had lost six consecutive road matches before rallying in the third period on Thursday night.
“We gritted it out,” said Williams who scored the tying goal with 2:07 left to play. “Sometimes at the end of the game, you look and say, ‘All right, that was justice.’ I feel we dominated the game. We had the better opportunities and we were able to some resiliency, some resolve and not give up.”
Vancouver scored on the power play in the first period when Alex Burrows found the crease. Vancouver made it 2-0 early in the second period when Vrbata scored on a one-timer thanks to a great assist by Chris Higgins. The Kings came roaring back though and scored three unanswered goals over the final 25 minutes.
Ryan Miller was excellent in goal making 37 saves, but he allowed three goals including the two in the final few minutes and he lost to the Kings for the second time this season.
“One of the more disappointing games in a while,” said an unhappy Miller after the game. “Just blew it at the end.”
Jonathan Quick got his 16th win of the season, surrendering two goals but making 14 saves. He was excellent in net in the final two periods, as the Kings defense locked down the Canucks attack. In two games this season, the Kings have outshot the Canucks 76-35.
Offensive output has been a problem for the Canucks as they have been outshot 103-51 in their past three games and now fall behind the Kings by a point in the Western Conference standings.
“There’s going to be stretches like that,” said Miller. “We’ll clean it up. We’ll get better. It’s not always neat, tidy and clean during the season. You’re going to have disappointments. Unfortunately tonight we couldn’t at least get a point out of it. That’s pretty frustrating.”
Game Notes:
Los Angeles defeated Vancouver 5-1 in a rout on November 8th at Staples Center. Tonight was just the second of five total match ups the teams will play this season. Robyn Regehr missed the game again for the Kings and is still on injured reserve. He is expected to return at some point in the next two weeks. Kings suspended defenseman, Slava Voynov, plead not guilty at a hearing last Monday in Torrance, California on charges of beating his wife. A preliminary trial date has been set for March 2nd.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
