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A delay-of-game penalty to Vancouver's Chris Higgins for shooting the puck over the glass gave the Kings a five-on-three power play for 1:11. But L.A. needed just 10 seconds to forge a 1-1 tie as Richards beat Luongo with a shot through the legs from a sharp angle.
The goal came after Vancouver's Sammy Pahlsson won a faceoff in the Canucks end and sent the puck back to teammates. But they promptly gave it away, allowing the Kings to get the puck to Richards.
"They played a better overall game than we did tonight. You've got to give them credit," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said.
"We ended up with four penalties in the first period, which is a lot and we followed it up with nine more minutes in the second. Obviously we spent a lot of energy trying to kill those penalties but they were the better team tonight."
Early in the second period, Quick lived up to his surname as he slid across the crease to foil Ryan Kesler on a wraparound attempt.
The Kings had five straight power plays in an 11-minute span covering the first and second periods but could not score.
Vancouver winger Byron Bitz gave them another chance at 12:12 of the second as he received a boarding major and game misconduct for slamming Kyle Clifford face-first into the glass. Clifford stayed on the bench a while afterward, then left the game and did not return.
Mitchell put in a point shot off Pahlsson's stick with less than a minute to go in the five-minute man-advantage opportunity.
The Canucks drew even with just eight seconds left in the second period as Alex Edler's point shot hit Brown's stick, bounced off the ice and then went high past a screened Quick.
Game 2 is Friday night in Vancouver.
NOTES: Carter returned to the lineup after missing the last five games of the regular season with a bruised ankle. "It feels fine," he said after the morning skate. ... Daniel Sedin remained out with a concussion. He missed his 10th straight game. The winger did not take part in the morning skate with the team or a second session with extras. Vigneault refused to comment on a Swedish media report that quoted Sedin's father saying Daniel experienced a headache after skating earlier in the week. ... This is the fifth post-season series between the teams. Both clubs have won two series. The Canucks prevailed in 2010 and 1982 en route to the Stanley Cup finals. The Kings ousted Vancouver in 1993 and 1991. ... Los Angeles has four Stanley Cup winners on its roster. The Canucks have one -- Pahlsson (Anaheim, 2007).
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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