Kings fall to Canucks in overtime but move into third in Pacific Division
J.T. Miller scored on a delayed penalty 1:36 into overtime, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Kings 2-1 on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Miller scored from the right faceoff circle on a slap shot for his 31st of the season. Vancouver earned its second straight win and remained on top of the Western Conference.
By earning a point, the Kings moved into third place in the West, ahead of Vegas. The teams are tied on points, but the Kings have a game in hand.
Elias Pettersson, who signed an eight-year extension with the Canucks on Saturday, scored in the second period. He became the seventh player in franchise history to record at least 30 goals in three straight seasons.
The 25-year-old Swede is one point shy from 400 in his career. He has 165 goals and 399 points in 389 games, which puts him on track for the second-fewest games by a Canucks player to reach the milestone. Pavel Bure did it in 360 games.
Thatcher Demko stopped 23 shots and picked up his NHL-leading 32nd win. Demko made a great glove save on Alex Turcotte on a two-on-one break two minutes into the third period. Drew Doughty also had a shot carom off the left post one minute later.
Quinn Hughes had the second assist on Pettersson’s goal and became the fourth defenseman in NHL history to record three consecutive 60-assist seasons. The others were Paul Coffey, Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque.
Trevor Moore scored for the Kings, and Cam Talbot made 29 saves.
The Kings opened the scoring midway through the first period when Phillip Danault forced Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek into a turnover behind the net. Danault then made a backhanded pass to Moore, who was set up near the crease and put a one-timer into the net for his 24th goal of the season and third in five games.
Pettersson responded at 16:36 of the second when he skated into the slot from the left faceoff circle, eluded three Kings players and put in a wrist shot. Talbot was screened by Vancouver’s Conor Garland and the Kings’ Jacob Moverare on the play.
Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy played for the first time since Jan. 20. He sat out 17 games because of a fractured knuckle after he was struck on a hand by a shot against Toronto.
Up next
Kings host Ottawa on Thursday.
