Kings enjoy the view from advantage point

The last time the Kings won a playoff game at Staples Center, on April 27, 2002, Drew Doughty was 12 years old. Now he’s playing with the big boys and shining.

Accompanied by roars from a towel-waving, standing-room-only crowd at Staples Center, Doughty led the Kings to a 5-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday that gave them control of their first-round playoff series. He scored a power-play goal, orchestrated two other goals with the man advantage and set up Ryan Smyth’s insurance goal at even strength midway through the third period, shortly after the Kings had killed a penalty.

Michal Handzus scored twice and added an assist as the Kings took a 2-1 series lead, their first edge in a playoff series since they won their opener against Colorado in the second round of the 2001 tournament.

Doughty was 11 then. But his performance Monday all but guaranteed that King fans won’t have to wait so long between postseason triumphs for the foreseeable future. Maybe only until Wednesday, when Game 4 is played at Staples Center.

“I think if we keep playing the way we did tonight we should win the series,” Doughty said.

The Kings did have some nervous moments, and they got a break when an apparent goal by Daniel Sedin was waved off following a lengthy review by NHL executives in Toronto, who ruled that Sedin had kicked a centering pass beyond the reach of Kings goalie Jonathan Quick at 3:06 of the final period.

That proved crucial when Sedin scored at 4:18 to cut Vancouver’s deficit to 4-3, deflecting a shot from Kevin Bieksa past Quick. But Smyth eased fans’ nerves when his rising shot from the left wing hit Canucks defenseman Christian Ehrhoff just enough to become a looper that glanced off the post and in at 9:21.

Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo, known in Vancouver as “Bobby Lou,” could be called “Bobby Lose” after his second straight poor performance in this building.

Luongo, torched for eight goals in an 8-3 loss to the Kings on April 1, on Monday gave up four goals on 16 shots — the last two goals on successive shots — before being replaced by Andrew Raycroft at 13:21 of the second period.

Luongo was helpless against the Kings’ power play and got no help from his teammates when they let Doughty and Jack Johnson (three assists) crank it up from the blue line without anyone stepping up to block their shots or their passing lanes.

“We’ve definitely been watching videos of their penalty kills so we see what they’re doing and what they’re not doing,” Doughty said. “We happened to open up those lanes today and thank God those were going in.”

The Canucks grabbed the lead 2:09 into the game, beating Quick on a one-timer by Mason Raymond. The Kings matched that during a power play at the 11-minute mark when Handzus passed to Doughty, who was about 50 feet out when he unleashed an ice-skimming shot that got past Luongo’s left foot.

The Kings killed off a high-sticking penalty called against Sean O’Donnell at 15:06, thanks to the energetic shot-blocking of Jeff Halpern, Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene. The last block, by Greene on Sedin, was especially vital to the Kings because Sedin would have had a prime scoring chance if Greene hadn’t gotten his stick on the short-range shot.

The very walls of Staples Center seemed to shake from the roars generated when the Kings converted another power play and took a 2-1 lead at 4:06 of the second period. Luongo stopped Johnson’s initial shot but left a juicy rebound for Handzus, who converted a 22-foot wrist shot.

Raymond was sent off for holding at 11:41 and the Kings struck at 12:18. Johnson controlled the puck out near the blue line, faked a shot and then passed to Doughty for a one-timer. Luongo stopped that slap shot but Handzus swatted the rebound into the net.

Two giveaways by the Canucks in their own zone, the last by defenseman Aaron Rome, allowed Brad Richardson to walk in and score on a short wrist shot at 13:21. That was all for Luongo.

The Canucks cut their deficit to 4-2 at 14:53 after Doughty turned over the puck in his own end and Ryan Kesler set up Mikael Samuelsson for a snap shot that turned into the Swedish winger’s fourth goal of the series, but the Kings held on.

“It was great to get that win,” Doughty said. “Honestly when I was coming here I was just pumped to get here and play at Staples Center. The fans were unbelievable. I didn’t think we could match Vancouver, but I think we did just that.”

And not just in atmosphere, either.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

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