In Vancouver, J.T. Miller led the charge for the Canucks with a goal and four points in an 8-2 thrashing of the visiting Los Angeles Kings.
“It was a really special night, one I won’t forget,” saod Bo Horvat who was named captain of the Canucks. “I’m not going to lie. I was nervous with that added pressure, but at the same time I wanted to embrace it and go out there and have a good game. Everyone played unbelievable tonight. [Markstrom] was outstanding. From our first to third to fourth line, I thought everyone was solid.”
Jacob Markstrom made 37 saves in the win, the first for Vancouver this season.
“The first period really set them on their heels,” Miller said. “We continue to do a lot of good things. I don’t want people thinking that we lost the first two games, it’s a bad start. I think we felt really comfortable and confident after those games coming into this one. It’s nice to see the pucks finally start to go in.”
Tyler Toffoli and Sean Walker scored the Kings only goals.
Quinn Hughes scored his first NHL goal in the Vancouver win.
“It’s something I have been thinking about for a long time, just to get that one under my belt,” Hughes said. “I’ve told everyone from the start I’m going to try to get better every game. I feel really good right now.”
The game was close for two periods, well, relatively close with the Canucks holding a 4-1 lead through 40 minutes.
But the Canucks broke it open with four goals in the third.
“Just embarrassing,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “A team like that should not be beating a team like ours 8-2, there’s absolutely no way.”
Brandon Sutter had two goals, and Elias Pettersson also scored for the Canucks who had two goals in two losses to start the season.
“It was nice to get the first one, to get that over,” said Pettersson, who had two goals in the final 23 games last season. “To play a good game, spend a lot of time in the offensive zone, and create a lot of chances was first on my mind.”
Christopher Tanev, Alexander Edler and Josh Leivo also scored for the Canucks.
[WATCH: All Kings vs. Canucks highlights]
Jonathan Quick made 17 saves in the loss.
“I didn’t like any of our game,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “There’s a lot of things that go into the game. There’s the mind and then there’s the skillset and then there’s the systematic play and the ability to get involved in the right position, and I thought as the game wore on and it got away from us that just crumbled, so it tells me our group has a long, long way to go.”
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