LOs ANGELES, CA – The third game in this first round playoff series exhibited clear strengths and weaknesses from both teams. The weaknesses belonged largely to the Canucks, who played similarly to how they did Saturday in the Canucks’ loss at GM Place. They took too many penalties and their penalty kill was ineffective. Roberto Luongo had an unfortunate game, allowing four goals in sixteen shots and was replaced in the second period by Andrew Raycroft, who, despite blocking all but one shot, certainly wasn’t in a position to win the game for Vancouver.
Los Angeles coach Terry Murray has been exemplary in this series in finding the perfect formula to shut down the Sedin brothers and create as many chances as possible on the power play. The Canucks’ penalty kill has crumbled in the past two meetings, a dire situation if they continue to be so frequently penalized.
Vancouver came out strong in the first period. Alain Vigneault’s decision to bump Mason Raymond up to the second line to play with Mikael Samuelsson and Ryan Kesler, demoting Pavol Demitra to the fourth, paid off just over two minutes into the game with Raymond’s goal on Jonathon Quick. The Kesler line succeeded again in the second period with a goal by the Canucks’ playoff point leader Mikael Samuelsson.
T he Kings had some clear stars of the night; the most deserving being Jonathon Quick, who stood his ground and blocked 25/28 shots despite being tested in both the first and third periods. Michal Handzus scored two of the power play goals, while 20-year-old star defenseman Drew Doughty had a 4-point night with three assists and his first career playoff goal.
The Sedin line was effectively staved off and caged in their own zone for most of the game until the third period when the puck deflected off Daniel Sedin’s skate and into the Kings’ net. Upon further review the goal was disallowed, with the NHL’s vice-president Mike Murphy later stating that it looked like Sedin “twisted his toe” to make a kicking motion at the puck. Though Sedin redeemed himself with a goal just seconds later, it wasn’t enough to shift the game’s momentum in the favor of his team.
The relentless Kings also saw goals from an unassisted Brad Richardson, as well as from Ryan Smyth, with Jack Johnson and Doughty credited with the assists.
Wednesday night’s game four will be a challenging one for Luongo, who has a worrisome track record at the Staples Center after giving up eight goals to the Kings the last time these teams met in the regular season. Also of concern for the Canucks is their undisciplined play and weak penalty kill, as the Kings are seven for ten now in the series on power play goals.
This first round series now sits at 2-1 Kings, and game four is set for Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Contact the writer at gabrielle.pope@prohockeynews.com
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