In Vancouver Monday night, Eddie Lack outdueled Jonathan Quick to give the Canucks a much-needed win, 2-1, over the Los Angeles Kings after the skills competition.
“Before the game I was thinking back to the summer, and this is one of those games that you work for all summer and all year,” said Lack, who gave up 12 goals his past three games but finished against Los Angeles with the crowd chanting his name. “I wanted to be sharp.”
Lack had 36 saves on the night.
“It was a Game 7 for us,” Vancouver forward Alexandre Burrows said. “We’re in a tough spot playing for our playoff lives, and it was a big win.”
Dwight King opened the scoring early in the first when he knocked in a nifty pass from Jeff Carter to give the Kings the early lead.
“They came hard, and we looked a little nervous right at the start,” Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. “They had two good chances at the start we didn’t have to give up. But we got going, and I thought the rest of the game was pretty close. It was just a battle.”
Daniel Sedin picked up his 18th of the season midway through the third period to knot the game at one all.
“You only allow one goal on the road in a tough building, you like to get the points,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. “We had lots of opportunities in the second period. Lack made some great saves, as did Jonathan. That was the difference in the game, not the overtime or shootout; the difference was the probably those great chances in regulation.”
With the game in extra time the Kings almost certainly were hoping to end it there, their 2-8 record is the shootout has cost them far too many points this season.
“That’s obviously what has hurt us in the standings this year, 4-on-4 (overtime) and shootout play,” Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty said. We got one point out of it, and it could be big for us in the end.”
Chris Higgins scored the only goal in the talent portion of the game to give the Canucks the win.
“I kind of watch the other shooters before me; that’s the nice thing about going third, is you can kind of see how he is lining up,” Higgins said. “He’s a tough goalie to beat, so I am happy it went in.”
The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames are on the schedule for the Kings as the season ends this week.
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