Daniel Sedin helps Vancouver Canucks to 3-1 win over Los Angeles Kings
Daniel Sedin lit the lamp with the game-winning goal, as the Vancouver Canucks held on for a 3-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings, at the Staples Centre on Saturday night.
Alexandre Burrows and Jannik Hansen each also tallied a goal for Vancouver, who have alternated victories and losses over their last 12 games. Roberto Luongo stopped 21 shots to earn the victory for Canucks, who sit atop the National Hockey League (NHL)
standings with 91 points.
Canucks Head Coach Alain Vigneault praised his team’s performance after the game. He said, "I thought it was a real good hockey game from both teams. There was a lot of energy on the ice, a lot of competes from both teams and at the end of the day we played
a good game."
Dustin Penner notched the lone goal for Los Angeles, who have lost two of their previous three play-offs. It was his first goal for the team since they acquired him at the trade deadline.
Kings Head Coach Terry Murray said after the game, “We played them in the playoffs last year and there's a rivalry that's heated up. It was intense, it was hard play, and it was the way the game should be played."
Jonathan Quick turned away 33-of-35 shots in the losing effort.
Los Angeles got on the board first for a 1-0 lead nearly five and a half minutes into the opening stanza. The goal came when Penner rushed to the net and fired the puck from a sharp angle on the left side, and it made its way into the net with Luongo leaning
the wrong way.
The Canucks though, pulled the game even at 1-1 less than four minutes later. The move started when Raffi Torres threw a pass from the right boards to the front where Hansen fired a backhander into the net. Both teams were unable to score in the middle session,
as Quick made 13 saves and Luongo stopped eight shots to keep the frame scoreless.
The game winning goal came with eight and a half minutes left in the final stanza. The play was set up by Christian Ehrhoff, who made a power move from the right corner to the front of the net and ripped a shot that was saved. However, Sedin was at the left
side to bury home the rebound to make it a 2-1 game.
Burrows accounted for the final scoring at 3-1, by putting the puck into the empty net with 37 seconds remaining in the game.
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