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10:00 P.M.: Luongo, Canucks Look To Rebound From Game 3 Loss
Los Angeles (Sports Network) - Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks hope to rebound tonight when they visit the upstart Los Angeles Kings for a pivotal Game 4 meeting at Staples Center.
The third-seeded Canucks posted a 3-2 win in the opener of this best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series, but then allowed Los Angeles to earn a split in Vancouver after losing Game 2 in overtime by the same score. The Kings kept the momentum in Game 3, posting a 5-3 win for the franchise’s first home playoff victory in eight years.
Luongo, Vancouver's star goaltender, was pulled in the second period of Monday's setback after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Andrew Raycroft stopped six shots in relief.
Despite posting an awful .880 save percentage in this series, the Canucks are expected to stick with their workhorse goaltender as the starter tonight. Vancouver needs a bounce back performance from Luongo tonight or it risks falling behind three games to one in the series.
Michal Handzus scored two power-play goals and added an assist to help the Kings earn Monday's win at Staples Center. Drew Doughty registered a goal and three assists for the sixth-seeded Kings, who hosted their first playoff game since April 27, 2002, when they beat Colorado.
Ryan Smyth and Brad Richardson also tallied for Los Angeles, while Jonathan Quick made 25 saves on 28 shots.
Mikael Samuelsson, Daniel Sedin and Mason Raymond each had a goal for the Canucks, who once again did a poor job on special teams.
Seven of the Kings’ 10 goals in the series have come on the power play and Los Angeles is 7-for-12 with the man advantage. The Canucks, meanwhile, were 0- for-4 on the power play Monday and are just 2-for-11 in the series.
“Big difference right now is specialty teams,” said Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault. “Our penalty kill hasn’t done the job and our power play hasn’t done the job.”
The Kings, who were 22-13-6 at home during the regular season, will try to claim a two-game lead in this series tonight before Game 5 in Vancouver on Friday. LA is attempting to win its first playoff series since ousting Detroit in the opening round of the 2001 postseason.
Vancouver was just 19-20-2 as the guest, but showed the ability to win on the road during the regular season when it went 8-5-1 during an NHL-record 14-game road trip.
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.
Los Angeles lost three of four overall to Vancouver during the regular season, but did post an 8-3 home victory in the final meeting on April 1.
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