Canucks blank Kings 1-0

[March 27, 2012]  VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Roberto Luongo made 38 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and the Vancouver Canucks blanked the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 on Monday night.

Manny Malhotra scored the game's only goal in the first period and Vancouver got its third straight win without injured scoring star Daniel Sedin, who is out with a concussion.

The Canucks (46-21-9) passed 100 points for the fourth straight season and moved within two points of Western Conference-leading St. Louis.

The Kings (37-27-12) had their second loss in eight games despite outshooting Vancouver 38-25.

Malhotra scored at 3:05 of the first when he fired in a Max Lapierre pass off the corner of the post and the crossbar. It was Malhotra's first goal in 14 games.

He had not scored since a Feb. 18 home win over Toronto. The goal came on Vancouver's second shot of the game, but the Canucks managed just three more shots in the rest of the first period.

Vancouver had two power plays just past the midway point of the second period. Kyle Clifford was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for spraying ice on Luongo while stopping suddenly to avoid a collision with the Canucks goaltender as he smothered the puck.

Just after his penalty expired, former Canuck Willie Mitchell was called for interference on Lapierre.

But Vancouver only managed one shot over both power plays.

The Kings had a 12-7 edge in shots in the second, but rarely threatened until the late going. Luongo caught a Justin Williams wrist shot during an L.A. power play and then the Kings winger missed a tap-in on a goalmouth pass.

Luongo was kept busy in the third period as the Kings had a number of scoring chances. First, he stopped a high Anze Kopitar shot with his left shoulder. A minute and a half later, Luongo stopped Trevor Lewis as he came around the net and sent a quick shot.

With just over six minutes left in the third period, Luongo got help from defensemen Sami Salo and Dan Hamhuis as they cleared the puck while he was down and under pressure from the Kings after failing to control an L.A. dump-in.

Luongo then stopped Kopitar on a mid-air deflection of Dustin Brown's backhand from close range.

The pressure on the Canucks eased at 16:37 as Dustin Penner was called for goaltender interference. After being pushed into Luongo, he gave him an extra shove.

But the Kings received a late power play as Vancouver's Alex Edler was called for holding in the final minute. But Luongo held off the Kings as they made a charge to try to tie the game.

NOTES: Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault confirmed earlier Monday that injured winger Daniel Sedin has a concussion. It was the team's first public admission that he has a concussion since he took an elbow in the head from Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith last Wednesday. ... Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome was sidelined with a knee injury suffered Saturday against Colorado while fellow defenseman Andrew Alberts was a healthy scratch. As a result of Rome's injury, defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani was in the lineup.

[Associated Press]

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