Kings, Canucks Have Some Second Period Fun

For the neutral observer, the first period of Game 3 between the Canucks and Kings was a bit boring. Not that the action wasn't exciting or anything, but when you've been watching a weekend full of goals and line brawls and hilarious GIFs, it's easy to be underwhelmed when a game doesn't reach the same expectations.

Luckily, there's more than one period in a game, and the teams didn't disappoint for much longer.

Things got interested following a clean hit by Dustin Brown on Henrik Sedin.

It was a scary hit given the result, and it may have been a smidge late, but in terms of the contact, it's absolutely clean. Shoulder-to-shoulder, not targeting of the head, didn't charge. A beauty of a hit, and you can certainly see Sedin admiring his pass a bit. Besides, the slow-mo might make it look later than it was:

Nope. #TSN timed it at less than 1/3 of a second after he releases puck "@cotsonika: As I tweet all this, Brown decks Henrik Sedin.Late.."
— Aaron Ward (@aaronward_nhl) April 16, 2012

Alex Burrows and Kevin Bieksa decided to jump Brown after the play, which was a shame, but Los Angeles got a power play out of the deal. A few shifts later, Bieksa took proper steps to get back at Brown. This is the way it's done:

A few shifts later, Ryan Kesler decided to join in on the fun as well. Willie Mitchell and Alec Martinez gave him a bit of a shove behind the net, and you know ... for a power forward that's a darn good NHL player, Kesler is awfully weak on his skates.