The Los Angeles Kings needed a win Saturday at home to get their game back on track and they were denied the opportunity by Eddie Lack and the Vancouver Canucks in a 4-1 loss.
Lack made 25 saves for the win and stoned nearly chance the Kings had on the night.
“It’s obviously a team we can end up running into, and [it’s meaningful] having it in the 
back of your mind that they are beatable, because they haven’t been up until today,” Canucks forward Jannik Hansen said. “It’s always a nice thing. But again, every game is a new game.
“You can’t afford to let any points slip away, and this is a four-point game as well, so [this was] one of the bigger ones.”
A tight game is the best way to describe the match with the teams entering the third period tied at one all on goals from Marian Gaborik for LA and Nick Bonino for the Canucks.
The game-winner came off the stick of Radim Vrbata on a 5-on-3 power play for the Canucks.
The Kings took two penalties including a boarding major and game misconduct to Tyler Toffoli.
“I’m not sure what [Toffoli] was thinking, but I know you can definitely frustrate a physical team like that when you give it right back to them,” Canucks forward Nick Bonino said. “Those are the type of games you need to win in the playoffs, especially against the Kings, who are a team you’ll probably see if you’re going to get to the Cup. We had our battle level today, and it was a good win.”
The Kings offense has certainly deserted them this season and the lone goal was not enough against a hungry Vancouver club.
“The bottom line is that you can’t win with one goal,” Kings forward Marian Gaborik said. “We had a lot of chances to put the game away but we just didn’t capitalize. We need to work on this. Gong on the road, we need to score more goals — that’s the bottom line — without sacrificing our defense. We need to play the right way.”
The game was sealed in the final minute when Daniel Sedin and Bo Horvat scored empty-netters for the Canucks.
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