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 The Vancouver goaltender celebrated his 600th start with his 36th
career shutout as the Canucks earned a 3-0 victory over the winless
Kings at Staples Center.
"That was pretty impressive," said Miller, who stopped all 15 shots
he faced. "We worked together to get some big blocks, and we turned
the puck around pretty quick on some of their zone time, so it was
good to see."
Right winger Adam Cracknell and defenseman Alexander Edler tallied
second-period goals, and right winger Derek Dorsett added an
empty-netter with 2:39 remaining as the Canucks (3-0-1) defeated the
Kings (0-3-0) for the third consecutive time.
Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick saved 23 of 25 attempts.
The Kings hadn't dropped their opening three contests since the
2012-13 season, when the Chicago Blackhawks, the Colorado Avalanche
and the Edmonton Oilers beat them. Los Angeles has been outscored
12-2 in its setbacks this season against the San Jose Sharks,
Arizona Coyotes and Vancouver.
"Tonight it was different. We didn't have many touches in the
offensive zone," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "A lot of that is
fighting through checks and second and third efforts, things like
that. Tonight they didn't. We didn't have any touches."
Asked if there was a sense of urgency, Sutter said, "Absolutely. We
need some production out of some guys."
The Canucks were coming off a 2-1 shootout victory against the Ducks
on Monday night, and they made it two wins in two nights in the Los
Angeles area. At Anaheim, Miller recorded his NHL-record 53rd
shootout win.
"To come down here and play Anaheim and L.A. very well, both strong
teams, we needed everybody, and that's what we got from these two
games," said Cracknell, who also scored a goal against the Ducks.
"It's going to take a team effort for us to keep winning games like
this."
Cracknell broke up a scoreless contest at 5:13 of the second period.
Defenseman Matt Bartkowski connected with left winger Brandon Prust
with a pass. Prust fired it across the ice to a rushing Cracknell,
who shot the puck past Quick for a 1-0 lead.
The Canucks failed to take advantage of a five-on-three opportunity
for one minute and 20 seconds after Kings defenseman Matt Greene was
sent to the box for holding and defenseman Brayden McNabb joined him
40 seconds later at 6:48 of the second.
However, Edler delivered at 13:23 of the middle period, fielding a
pass from center Henrik Sedin just below the blue line and ripping a
winner to make it 2-0. The goal was Edler's first of the season.
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"You know, we could've lost both games as well," Canucks coach
Willie Desjardins said. "It's not like we dominated. Both teams were
really good teams, they were tough games. We're happy with the wins,
but we're not taking anything for granted."
Vancouver outshot Los Angeles 21-9 after two periods, including a
14-4 cushion in the second period. In addition to shots on goal,
sloppy passing plagued the Kings.
"We are not doing the things that we need to do to get quality
chances," Kings forward Anze Kopitar said. "Whether that is not
coming in with possession or that is not recovering the puck the way
we should, we are playing too soft to get the pucks back."
Los Angeles gave a more spirited effort in the final period but
failed to rally despite three power-play opportunities in the
opening 10 minutes of the third.
"We are not winning battles in tough areas, we are not good enough
on our own end and we are not capitalizing on chances," Kings
defenseman Alec Martinez said. "We are not playing with a sense of
urgency."
NOTES: D Dustin Brown played his 805th game for Los Angeles, tying
Rob Blake for fourth overall on the franchise's all-time list. ...
Canucks C Brandon Sutter is the nephew of Kings coach Darryl Sutter.
... D Yannick Weber and C Jared McCann were scratches for Vancouver,
while D Derek Forbort and C Jordan Weal were unavailable for Los
Angeles. ... The two clubs meet again Dec. 1 at Staples Center. ...
The Canucks open a five-game homestand Friday against the St. Louis
Blues. The Kings host the Minnesota Wild on Friday. ... An announced
crowd of 18,230 attended the game.
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reserved.]
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