For more information on this game and the teams involved, please visit our Canucks site, Nucks Misconduct, and our Kings site, Jewels From The Crown.
10:00 P.M.: Vancouver Looks To Take 2-0 Series Lead Over Kings
(Sports Network) - The third-seeded Vancouver Canucks earned a dramatic win in the series opener and will try to claim a two games to none lead in the Western Conference quarterfinals when they host the Los Angeles Kings tonight at General Motors Place.
The Northwest Division champion Canucks needed overtime to take a lead in this best-of-seven series on Thursday, grabbing a 3-2 victory in Game 1 at GM Place. Mikael Samuelsson's second tally of the game, coming at 8:52 of overtime, sent Vancouver to the thrilling win.
The sixth-seeded Kings, meanwhile, lost their first playoff game since 2002 in heartbreaking fashion. Minutes before Samuelsson's game-winner, Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo made an amazing play to keep Los Angeles from taking Game 1.
After 30 seconds of pressure inside the Kings' defensive zone, Henrik Sedin gained control of the puck behind the goal line and dished back into the high slot for Samuelsson, whose one-timer beat Jonathan Quick over the glove to end the contest.
About two minutes before the winning goal, Luongo made a phenomenal save to keep the game tied. After stopping Ryan Smyth's slap shot with a pad save the rebound went right to LA defenseman Jack Johnson, who had an open net to shoot at. Even though Johnson didn't get a good shot off, Luongo still needed to get a piece of the puck with his blocker and then swipe the puck away with his glove just before the disc crossed the goal line.
Luongo stopped 25-of-27 shots, including all six fired his way in overtime. Daniel Sedin posted a goal and one assist while Henrik added a pair of helpers for the Canucks.
“I thought both teams played really well,” said Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault. “It was a great game and we got it done in overtime.”
Jarret Stoll and Fredrik Modin scored for the Kings, who qualified for their first postseason in eight years by recording 101 points on the season.
Quick performed well during his first NHL playoff start, making 41 saves in defeat.
“As a team, we played a good game,” Quick said. “We did a lot of good things and need to focus on them, address the things that we didn’t do so well, correct those and prepare for Game 2.”
Los Angeles would like to tie the series tonight before hosting Game 3 at Staples Center on Monday. The Kings showed the ability to win on the road during the regular season, going 24-14-3 as the guest.
However, Vancouver was the best home team in the Western Conference this year, posting a 30-8-3 record at GM Place. The Canucks season-long success at home was evident to the Kings, who dropped both regular-season tests at GM Place this year by a combined 7-2 margin. Los Angeles lost three of four overall to Vancouver, but did post an 8-3 home victory in the final meeting on April 1.
The Kings and Canucks have met three times before in the postseason, with Los Angeles winning two of those series, but not since 1993, when Los Angeles was led by Wayne Gretzky.
See More:
