Canucks Able to Keep Playoff Bid Alive With a 4-3 Win Over Kings

Hockey fans here have been holding a season-long wake for the Vancouver Canucks, who have one of the worst records in the National Hockey League.

But they’ll have to postpone the funeral for a little bit longer.

The Canucks, just two points away from being eliminated from the NHL playoffs, stayed alive with a 4-3 win over the Kings Friday night before 11,895 fans at the Pacific Coliseum.

The Kings were unbeaten in their last four games against Vancouver and had outscored the Canucks, 31-10, in that span.

And it looked like the Kings might beat Vancouver again after Dave Taylor scored on the first shot of the game. But the Canucks scored three straight goals in the first period and hung on to snap a three-game home losing streak.

In a desperation move with 1:12 left in the game, the Kings called time out and asked referee Bob Meyers to examine the stick of Vancouver goalie Frank Caprice. However, nothing was wrong with Caprice’s stick and the Kings received a two-minute bench minor.

If Caprice’s stick had been ruled illegal, the Kings would have had a power play. But instead they had to play short-handed.

Vancouver has a 20-39-8 record with 13 games remaining. The Canucks, who are in last place in the Smythe Division, trail the Kings by 23 points.

The loss left the Kings (30-26-11) four points behind the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets, who are tied for second in the Smythe Division.

Center Patrik Sundstrom and Al MacAdam had one goal and one assist apiece for the Canucks. Thomas Gradin had two assists.

It took the Kings just 51 seconds to score. Center Marcel Dionne stole the puck from Vancouver defenseman Michel Petit and gave Taylor a nifty pass in the middle of the slot. Taylor beat Caprice to give the Kings a 1-0 lead on the first shot of the game.

However, the Canucks scored three straight goals, including two in the last 57 seconds of the first period, to take a 3-1 lead going into the second period.

Vancouver tied the score at 1-1 with 16:28 left in the first period when right wing Jean-Marc Lanthier banked a shot off the post for his second goal of the season.

The Kings looked horrible on their only power play of the first period and almost gave up a goal when goalie Darren Eliot came out of the nets to clear the puck. But Vancouver center Mark Kirton missed a shot at an empty net. The Kings had just two shots in the power play.

The Canucks had their first power play of the game after Kings defenseman Mark Hardy got a minor penalty for charging Canucks right wing Tony Tanti with 7:33 left in the first period. Vancouver had a five-shot flurry during the power play, but couldn’t get a goal out of it.

Less than a minute after the Kings had killed the penalty to Hardy, they were forced to play short-handed again when defenseman Jay Wells was penalized for hooking Sundstrom with 4:39 left. But the Canucks got only two shots on their second power play.

The Canucks went ahead with 57 seconds left in the opening period when MacAdam took a pass from Gradin and scored his 11th goal of the season. With the assist, Gradin became the first player in Canucks’ history to score 500 points in his career.

With 17 seconds left in the first period, Sundstrom made it 3-1 when he took a pass from Gradin and scored his 22nd goal of the season.

The Kings outscored the Canucks, 2-1, in the second period and trailed, 4-3, going into the third period.

Kings right wing Anders Hakanson closed the score to 3-2 with a power-play goal with 17:13 left in the second period. There was a fight between Kings captain Terry Ruskowski and Vancouver defenseman Garth Butcher immediately after the goal.

However, the Canucks scored again just 1:01 later when Tanti beat Eliot on a slap shot from the right faceoff circle to make it 4-2.

Kings center Doug Smith stole a pass from Vancouver defenseman Doug Halward and scored an unassisted goal to close the score to 4-3 with 12:51 left in the second period.

The Kings, who were outshot 15-8 in the first period, outshot Vancouver, 11-4, in the first nine minutes of the second period.

King Notes

The Kings return home for a four-game stand, starting Sunday night against the Buffalo Sabres at the Forum. There will be a game between the media and a group of Hollywood stars at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.