Game 65: Canucks 3, Kings 1

• To peep out all the videos online about this game, check out today's Hockeywood Dailies.

The recent rivalry between the Kings and Canucks is shaping out to be an impressive one. I'm not entirely sure Canuck fans would admit there is a rivalry there. But Kings fans certainly do.

Last season, the Kings took the Sedins and the Canucks to six games in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The excitement spilled over to this season, when the two franchises clashed for the season opener, which the Kings took in a shootout.

Three games later, the Kings continued to confound the Canucks, this time beating them 4-1. The freshness of the season, as well as an elevated expectation level helped buoy the Kings for a while.

61 games later, the two teams meet again. But now, the Kings are scrambling for points every night in the wild West, while the Canucks are the big men on campus. Fourth in the league for goals scored, second for goals scored, the best special teams in the league and holds the most points... the Canucks are a force to be reckoned with.

That's why there was a playoff atmosphere coming into the game. The Kings struck first, when new King Dustin Penner scored his 22nd of the season and his first donning the Crown. It was sort of a flukey goal, as it sort of pinballed into the net. But it bodes well when the Kings score first, as they wind up winning 71% of the time.

But the Canucks came right back when gritty winger Jannik Hansen scored to knot the game. And there the game sat tied for the remainder of the first and entire second period. The Canucks pumped 27 shots to the Kings' 12, and looked every bit in control. But the Kings had clamped down on the second-best offense in the NHL, boosting their confidence defensively, even if their offense was non-existent.

Adding to their defensive performance at even strength was their performance a man down. The Kings sent six players to the box, and six times their penalty kill thwarted any chance for the high-powered Canucks to gain an edge. You could tell Vancouver was frustrated as they skated off the ice after the second period that the Kings were inside the heads.

The third period was all Kings. The Canucks were called for five penalties, including two concurrent penalties, giving the Kings a two-man advantage. Problem is, L.A. couldn't capitalize. It's a frustrating situation that continues to haunt the club all season.

That led to the questionable goal by Daniel Sedin. During a scrum at the net, Alex Burrows was IN the crease and had touched Jonathan Quick. In addition, Drew Doughty was dumped on Quick who was on his knees by Sedin. That's when Sedin was able to pop the puck past Quick and break the deadlock, much to the chagrin of the Kings.

Quick pleaded his case, Doughty pleaded his case, even Murray chirped from the bench. But for some inexplicable reason, they didn't overturn the goal and play continued. Doughty was so pissed, he continued to bark at the ref, who sent the fiery, one-time Norris finalist to the box for 10 minutes. After that, Burrows was rewarded with an empty-net goal, and the Canucks went on to beat the Kings for the first time this season.

Afterwards, both Sedin and Burrows just shrugged and said "it's a fast game." Both Quick and Doughty continued to say their were wronged, but then said the team still needed to play better. It was coach Murray who showed the most fire of all, launching into a brief triade before leaving his presser steamed.

The players won't admit this was a yardstick game, but in some aspects it was. Late in the season, teams are always evaluating their play against certain teams. Seeing that the Canucks are at the top of the conference, I'm sure the Kings are well-aware they might just make the playoffs as the 8th seed this season.

Plus, you always seem to naturally measure yourself against the best team in the league. Fans see it all the time when the L.A. Lakers play. Every team is gunning for the top team, and the Kings are no different. I think this game showed that they had the right idea: grind it down for the first two periods, then strike when the opportunity arises in the third when you wear out your opponent. The thing that let them down was their anemic power play.

And, since my last post, I won't point out where the Kings are exactly in the standings, only to say: they are in.

• AP: Daniel Sedin’s late goal leads Canucks past Kings

The clubs met for the first time in nearly five months since the Kings beat the Canucks twice in the first week of the regular season. Vancouver knocked Los Angeles out of the first round of the playoffs last spring, ending the Kings’ first postseason appearance in eight years.

• LA Times: Kings blame themselves, and the refs, after 3-1 loss to Canucks

This loss gnawed at the Kings, and it should.  Because as much as they blamed the referees for allowing mayhem to reign before Daniel Sedin scored the go-ahead goal in a 3-1 Vancouver victory Saturday, they knew they were also at fault for playing below their capabilities.

• LAKings.com:  Kings edged by Canucks

Officials’ decisions aside, the Kings didn’t perform well enough to win. They were fantastic on the penalty kill, going 6-for-6, but awful on the power play, going 0-for-6 against a Canucks team that ranked second in the NHL in power-play efficiency. The Kings had six shots on goal in 10 minutes of power-play time.

• ESPNLA.com: Penner's goal gets lost in the squabble

Kings coach Terry Murray appeared in the interview room after the game, chastised the referees for the no-call while dropping some rare expletives and then exited without taking further questions about 30 seconds later.  Questions such as, "What did you think of Penner’s goal?"

From across the aisle, the Vancouver view

• The Providence:  Canucks bare a toothless power-play in L.A.

On one power play, after Michal Handzus took a high-sticking call 3:48 into the third, it was nearly disastrous. Rome had his point shot blocked by Alexei Ponikarovsky, then he iced the puck and then he shot one over the glass which got him the automatic delay-of-game call.  In a word: ugly. And if an L.A. goal had followed, the tone of the post-game room may have been much different.

• The Province: Canucks edge Kings in tight, penalty-filled afternoon affair

Still, the Vancouver were at risk of squandering a game it finally showed up to play. The Sedin unit took it to Michal Handzus’s line. Jannik Hansen took it to Trevor Lewis, in a noisy open-ice hit. Ryan Kesler banana-pancaked Jack Johnson. Even Mason Raymond looked inspired here and there.

• The Vancouver Sun: Canucks overcome struggling power play to beat Kings

The power play is the toughest thing about the Canucks some nights. And if it's not scoring, Vancouver hasn't the personnel to dissuade opponents like the Kings from trying to abuse them physically. 

They said it

“It’s a &@#-damn shame that that goal is allowed. The guy is in the crease. Quick can’t move his stick and Doughty is pushed over the top of our goaltender. It’s a &@#-damn shame that that goal is allowed. It should not be allowed. That’s a penalty.” - Terry Murray, talking about the allowed goal Daniel Sedin scored in the third period.

"I was just kind of yelling at them, I guess. That’s one thing I’ve got to work on. I get frustrated at the refs too often, and sometimes I say things I wish I didn’t say. It’s something I’ve got to learn from.” - Drew Doughty, about why he received a 10-minute misconduct for barking at the refs.

"I just know that, on the original shot, I’m not allowed to make the save I want to make, because Burrows bumps me. You’ve got to allow the goaltender to attempt to make the save he’s trying to make. Other than that, at the end of the day we didn’t play good enough. We’ve got to play better.” - Jonathan Quick, on his reaction to the Sedin goal.

 “It was a different game, a lot of penalties, a lot of PKs, a lot of power plays. Quick was our best player. He kept us in it, made a lot of  good saves for us, especially in…actually all three periods, now that I think about it.  It was hard-fought, but we’ve got to be a lot better and we’ve got to find a way to find a goal.” - Dustin Brown, on the game.

“We got one goal right off the first five minutes of the game. I don’t think, if you asked either of them, they think we had the game we could as a line, and what the team needs from us as a line. We have to be better; I have to be better.” - Dustin Penner, on his chemistry with teammates so far

“I thought we deserved to win, but they were in it with five minutes to go. It was a tight game. It was the same against these guys in the playoffs last year. It was tight going into the third and we came out on top. It’s a good feeling.”– Daniel Sedin, on the game.