Kings struggle to find the net, lose on the road to Vancouver Canucks
Brock Boeser scored twice to end an 11-game drought, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Kings 4-1 on Friday night.
Elias Pettersson also scored two goals and Andrei Kuzmenko and Quinn Hughes each had two assists to help Vancouver (6-9-3) win its second consecutive game. Thatcher Demko stopped 37 shots to get his second victory of the season.
Blake Lizotte scored for the Kings (11-8-1), and Jonathan Quick finished with 21 saves. The Kings have lost two of three to begin a four-game trip. They were coming off a 3-1 win at Edmonton on Wednesday night.
After a scoreless opening period, the Kings stormed into the second, outshooting the Canucks 7-0 across the first five minutes.
Trevor Moore had a hat trick and the Kings bounced back by beating the struggling Edmonton Oilers 3-1 on Wednesday night.
The Canucks made their first chance count, though. Pettersson and his linemates broke out on an odd-man rush, and the Swedish center sent a wrist shot past Quick from the top hash marks at 5:40 to open the scoring on Vancouver’s first shot of the period.
Sean Walker’s cross-checking penalty gave the Canucks a man advantage midway through the period. Just 20 seconds into the power play, Boeser tipped in Miller’s one-timer and put Vancouver up 2-0 with his long-anticipated first goal of the season at 10:09. The elated right wing celebrated with an emphatic double fist pump.
The Kings got on the board with 6:14 left in the period when Lizotte redirected Walker’s shot from the side of the net to make it 2-1.
Just 1:04 later, Vancouver regained a two-goal cushion thanks to some persistent pressure. With the Kings hemmed in their own zone, Kuzmenko sent a pass across the slot to Pettersson, who fired a shot past the diving Quick for his second goal of the game.
The Kings nearly chipped away at the deficit 2:59 into the third when Anze Kopitar rang a shot off the post. Demko scrambled in the crease to find the puck with teammates Oliver Ekman-Larsson and J.T. Miller also searching in the blue paint.
Boeser put away his second goal of the night at 5:07 of the third period, batting the rebound of Sheldon Dries’ shot past Quick after the goalie made the stop on the initial shot.
Gone streaking
Boeser has points in six straight games, registering two goals and five assists during the stretch. Miller is on a four-game point streak with three goals and one assist.
Ins and outs
Forward Curtis Lazar returned to Vancouver’s lineup after missing 10 games because of a hand injury. The Canucks sent Will Lockwood back to Abbotsford of the American Hockey League in response.
Up next
Kings: At Seattle on Saturday night to complete a four-game trip.
Canucks: Host Vegas on Monday night.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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