TONIGHT

By HELENE ELLIOTT

April 5, 2001 12 AM PT

at Vancouver

7, Fox Sports Net

* Site--GM Place.

* Radio--KSPN (1110).

* Records--Kings 37-28-13-2, Canucks 35-27-11-7.

* Record vs. Canucks--3-0.

* Update--A 1-6-6-2 nose-dive has dropped the Canucks to eighth in the West, behind the Kings. Losing Markus Naslund (broken leg) and Andrew Cassels (sprained ankle) has hurt their offense, which has produced eight goals in their last seven games. Left wing Daniel Sedin has recovered from a back injury and will play tonight. Essensa, tonight’s starting goalie, was 2-0 against the Kings last season with Phoenix. The Kings, who will play their third game in four nights, have earned at least a point in 13 of their last 14 games--eight victories, four ties and one overtime loss. Center Ian Laperriere, who suffered a concussion and blacked out when he was cross-checked by the Coyotes’ Michal Handzus Tuesday at Phoenix, returned to Los Angeles Wednesday for tests but was to join the team in Vancouver. He won’t play tonight but might play Saturday. Handzus was ejected but won’t face supplementary discipline from the NHL. Left wing Stu Grimson will play after serving a two-game suspension for getting three instigator penalties.

Hockey

Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

TONIGHT

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