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 Just when it looked as if the Vancouver Canucks were going to
earn an important Pacific Division win, the Kings took it away.
Center Jarret Stoll and right winger Justin Williams scored 53
seconds apart late in the third period, and the Kings pulled off a
stunning 3-2 comeback victory over Vancouver.
"It was nice to get the two points and not give them any," Stoll
said.
The Kings (19-12-8) jumped into fifth place over the Canucks
(21-12-3) in the Western Conference, taking a two-point lead. Los
Angeles also ended a five-game road losing streak while posting only
its fifth win in 19 games away from Staples Center.
The Kings defeated the Canucks for the sixth time in the past seven
meetings dating to the 2012 playoffs.
"I think it was a pretty gutsy effort out of the guys," said Kings
left winger Tanner Pearson, who assisted on the winning goal.
"Obviously, we haven't been that strong of a team on the road, and
to come back in the third period like we did, I think, was a big
thing for us."
 Left winger Dwight King also tallied for the Kings.
"Good road game by everybody and, hopefully, we can use this as a
little springboard for road games and get our road record going,"
Stoll said. "It feels good."
Alex Burrows, while playing right wing instead of his usual left
wing on the power play, and right winger Radim Vrbata scored for the
Canucks.
"Losing's disappointing, but we didn't play the way we wanted to,"
Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. "That's more disappointing. I
think if you play the way you want to and you lose ... that happens
sometimes. We didn't play the way we needed to play."
The comeback began after the Canucks were forced to kill a penalty
with 3:58 left in the game as defenseman Ryan Stanton was called for
hooking Kings center Trevor Lewis in Vancouver's zone. Williams
scored on the ensuing power play, at 17:53, and then Stoll beat
Vancouver goalie Ryan Miller with a slap shot at 18:46.
"Getting the penalty called on them, that was important because I
thought there was one just prior to that that we didn't get (called)
for us," Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter said. "In a 2-1 game, you
need the breaks. I think both those goals were short-side goals, but
we made good plays to keep pucks in, and one's a power-play goal."
The Kings finished 1-for-3 on their man-advantage opportunities,
while the Canucks were blanked on one.
The Canucks led 1-0 after the first period, 2-0 early in the second
and 2-1 at the 40-minute mark.
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Burrows opened the scoring with his power-play marker 12:18 into the
game. He whacked in a loose puck after Vrbata initially directed it
to the net and left winger Daniel Sedin got his stick on it. Los
Angeles right winger Dustin Brown was off for tripping Vancouver
right winger Jannik Hansen headfirst into the end boards.
Vrbata put the Canucks ahead 2-0 at 3:39 of the second period
shortly after Vancouver killed a penalty. He one-timed a shot from
the slot after a pass from left winger Chris Higgins caromed off
center Henrik Sedin's skate.
"They're a good hockey team," Desjardins said. "They played hard.
For whatever reason, we didn't have our jump. You've got to think if
it's one guy, then maybe it's a guy, but I think it was the team.
Maybe we didn't prepare quite right, but we weren't good as a team."
Kings goalie Jonathan Quick made 14 saves for the win. Miller, who
stopped 37 shots, called it one of the more disappointing games in a
while.
"(We) just blew it at the end," he said.
NOTES: Canucks coach Willie Desjardins confirmed Thursday that RW
Zack Kassian is sufficiently recovered from a broken finger.
However, Kassian was a healthy scratch -- and not pleased with his
status. "He obviously doesn't see me fitting in right now, and
that's a coach's decision," Kassian, who has not played since Nov.
25, said after Vancouver's morning skate. "It's definitely
frustrating." ... Canucks D Bobby Sanguinetti and RW Tom Sestito
were also scratched, while D Dan Hamhuis remained out with an
undisclosed lower-body injury. ... Kings C Jordan Nolan, LW Andy
Andreoff and D Andy McBain were healthy scratches. D Slava Voynov is
still suspended by the NHL as he deals with a domestic-violence
charge.
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