VANCOUVER, Canada—Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist Monday night, March 25, to help the Los Angeles Kings to their fourth consecutive victory, a 3–2 decision over the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.
Blake Lizotte and Kevin Fiala also scored for the Kings, and goaltender Cam Talbot finished with 21 saves.
Brock Boeser and Sam Lafferty had goals for Vancouver, which saw a three-game winning streak halted. Goalie Casey DeSmith had 16 saves.
The Canucks (45–19–8) had a chance to become the NHL’s first team this season to clinch a Stanley Cup playoff berth.
While failing on that front, Pacific Division-leading Vancouver remained one point ahead of the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars for the top spot in the Western Conference standings. Colorado has one game in hand.
The Kings (38–22–11) maintained their hold on third place in the Pacific, two points ahead of the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights, who posted a 2–1, overtime victory at St. Louis.
Eleven regular-season games remain for the Kings and Knights.
Trailing 3–1, the Canucks pulled DeSmith in favor of an extra skater with just more than 4 1/2 minutes remaining.
The move paid off when Boeser’s shot from the top of the right faceoff circle hit Kopitar’s skate and deflected in past Talbot, pulling Vancouver within a goal with 2:54 left.
Boeser leads Vancouver with 37 goals this season.
Canucks Coach Rick Tocchet called a timeout with less than a minute to go. With DeSmith once again out of the net, Vancouver pressed for the tying goal.
The Canucks got a prime opportunity when Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty was sent to the box for tripping with 21 seconds to go, but they couldn’t bury a final shot during the stretch of 6-on-4 play.
The Kings took a 3–1 advantage late in the second period, scoring twice in less than two minutes.
Lizotte put Los Angeles ahead 2–1 with 3:31 to go on a delayed penalty after Vancouver’s Carson Soucy was guilty of tripping.
With six skaters on the ice, Lizotte fired a one-timer that hit Canucks defenseman Ian Cole at the side of the net before pinging off Soucy’s skate on the way in past DeSmith.
Kopitar got his 40th assist of the season on the play and has multiple points in four straight games, with four goals and five assists across the stretch.
Kopitar scored his 24th goal of the season with 1:40 to go in the period as DeSmith got a piece of the veteran center’s long blast but couldn’t hang on to the puck, which fell to the crease.
Kopitar came around the back of the net and tapped it in to give the Kings a two-goal cushion.
The Kings went 0 for 2 on the power play, while the Canucks were 0 for 1.
A bad Canucks line change created an odd-man advantage for the Kings midway through the opening period.
With the home side down a player, Pierre-Luc Dubois sent a pass into the slot to Fiala, who fired a shot in past a diving DeSmith to give the Kings a 1–0 lead 7:01 into the game. It was Fiala’s 24th goal of the season.
Vancouver’s third line ground out a tying goal with 7:10 left in the first. Lafferty fought off Alex Laferriere along the boards, then muscled his way to the front of the net and popped a silky wrist shot in to tie it.
Canucks center Elias Lindholm sat out with an undisclosed injury. Mr. Tocchet said the Swedish forward is “day-to-day.” Cole returned to Vancouver’s lineup after missing two games for what the coach had previously called “maintenance.”
Up Next
Kings: At Edmonton on Thursday night in the second of a four-game trip.Canucks: Host Dallas on Thursday night in the eighth of a nine-game homestand.
