The Vancouver Canucks blew a 2-0 lead in the third period, but thanks to Conor Garland’s second of the game in overtime, beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night. Canucks’ captain Quinn Hughes returned to the lineup and got the primary assist on Garland’s goal, and Filip Chytil recorded his first two-point game with his new club. Nils Hoglander rounded out the scoring, while the Kings got tallies from Adrian Kempe and Warren Foegele to salvage a point after entering the third down 2-0.
With the win, the Canucks leapfrogged the Calgary Flames to move back into the second wild card spot in the Western Conference while the Kings pulled to within two of the Edmonton Oilers and four of the Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific Division. Here is your game recap.
Game Recap
After a quiet start where the shot clock read 0-0 for the first five minutes, the Canucks opened the scoring just shy of the halfway mark of the period. Taking a pass in stride from defenceman Derek Forbort, Nils Hoglander dashed through the neutral zone and sniped a wrister glove side on David Rittich for only his fifth of the season. Overall, the first period was pretty low-event, although the Kings did get the measure of the high-danger chances 3-2, even though the Canucks had the edge in shots 6-4 and overall chances 9-4.
Just like the first period, the Kings and Canucks played a lot of low-event hockey in the second, but special teams came into play with both teams getting two power plays a piece. The Kings got the first two opportunities, but the Canucks’ penalty kill stood strong, limiting the Kings to three shots. Then, when the Canucks got one of their own, they capitalized with Conor Garland’s 15th of the season. After losing his stick along the boards, he got lost in coverage and was left wide open to take Filip Chytil’s pass and wrist it by Rittich for a 2-0 lead. That lead stood going into the intermission with shots still at a premium, 13-12 in favour of the Kings.
The Kings have proven to be a very good third period team this season, and they were again in this one as they came back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game and force overtime. First, it was Kempe at 9:16 with a solo dash and a snipe over the shoulder of Kevin Lankinen and then Foegele at 14:01 with a deft tip of a Jordan Spence shot. In overtime, they had a chance to complete the comeback on a 4-on-3 power play, but were again shut out by Lankinen and the Canucks’ penalty killers, leading eventually to Garland’s second of the game in the final minute.
What’s Next for the Canucks & Kings?
The Canucks will continue their road trip tomorrow in Anaheim against the Ducks while the Kings will head to Dallas on Friday to face the Stars.
