SBNation.com - Canucks Vs. Kings Game 2: L.A. Wins Again, Takes 2-0 Series Lead

Canucks Vs. Kings Game 2: Dean Lombardi's Vision Taking Shape

2012-04-14T15:00:15Z

Dean Lombardi has pursued the goal of turning the Los Angeles Kings into Stanley Cup Champions with no shortage of zeal over the past few years.

In the past, that included aggressive deadline moves that brought Ryan Smith, Freddy Modin and Dustin Penner to the City of Angels. He was willing to wait out Drew Doughty's holdout for a new contract. He dumped former head coach Terry Murray in favor of Darryl Sutter, made an aggressive pursuit of Ilya Kovalchuk during free agency, gambled on the swap of Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds for Mike Richards, and most recently decided to reunite Richards with former teammate Jeff Carter.

His best move, however, might have been changing his mind.

Back on Feb. 23, TSN's Bob MacKenzie broke the news that Kings' captain Dustin Brown was on the trading block. By all reports, the price was high, but a number of clubs were interested -- including the Vancouver Canucks. Then, within hours of the trade deadline, the plan changed. The club made it clear that Brown was no longer on the table, and the team was content to go forward as constructed.

From start to finish in Game 2 of their playoff series with those Canucks, the Kings' blueprint appears to be paying off. Despite questions about his leadership in the Kings' locker room, Brown was key to the Kings' 4-2 victory, delivering the 10th playoff hat trick in franchise history -- including two short-handed goals. Brown also led all forwards in shots on goal with six and collected a penalty when he engaged Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen after a hard-fought scrum around Jonathan Quick.

Brown was not the only recent acquisition to play a role in the victory, however.

Jarret Stoll, acquired from Edmonton in the deal that sent Ryan Smyth back to Canada, added a key third-period goal, and though Richards did not show up on the score sheet, his contributions in the faceoff circle were notable. Winning three out of four tries against Henrik Sedin in his own defensive zone, the most important play by the former Flyer may have been a faceoff win during the final minutes of regulation with the Canucks on the power play and the net empty for an extra attacker. Beating Sedin for the puck and sending it down the ice, the move ate up valuable time which Vancouver simply could not afford, helping to seal their victory and giving them a significant advantage going into game three in Los Angeles.

Canucks Vs. Kings, NHL Playoffs 2012 Game 2: Los Angeles Takes 2-0 Series Lead Following 4-2 Victory

2012-04-14T05:11:55Z

The Los Angeles Kings are halfway to an upset over the No. 1-seeded Vancouver Canucks following Friday night's 4-2 victory, taking a 2-0 series lead. Dustin Brown was the hero of the game with two goals, scoring one in each of the first two periods. To make it even more impressive, Brown scored his goals while on the penalty kill for the Kings.

The first two goals of the game came within a span of 26 seconds of game time, but over two periods. Brown put the Kings up 1-0 with just nine seconds left in the first period while Jannik Hansen tied the game just 17 seconds into the second frame. However, five minutes later, Brown put the Kings back on top by breaking away from a mess in his own zone and scoring on Roberto Luongo.

In the third period, Jarret Stoll switched things up by netting a power play goal. Assists went to Justin Williams and Brown. Trevor Lewis made it a 4-1 lead with just over five minutes left to play. Before Vancouver received a late goal from Samuel Pahlsson, there was a scrum on Los Angeles' end of the ice that resulted in multiple penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct for Vancouver's Hansen.

Jonathan Quick faced an onslaught of 48 shots from the Canucks, but he was able to stop 46 of them. The Kings offense, however, put 26 shots on net while only seeing 22 of them stopped by Luongo.

The series heads to Los Angeles on Sunday, and the Canucks will surely want to have a better showing than in these last two games.

For more on the Canucks, visit Nucks Misconduct. For updates on the Kings, check out Jewels From the Crown and SB Nation Los Angeles.

Canucks Vs. Kings, NHL Playoffs 2012 Game 2: Los Angeles Keeps 2-1 Lead At Close Of 2nd Period

2012-04-14T03:58:48Z

The Los Angeles Kings are just 20 minutes away from taking a 2-0 series lead over the Vancouver Canucks. After taking Game 1, 4-2, the Kings hold a 2-1 lead before the start of the third period. Kings right winger Dustin Brown has been huge for the team, scoring both goals while on the penalty kill.

Brown scored the first goal of the game with just nine seconds left in the first period. But the Canucks wasted no time answering back in the second period. Jannik Hansen tied the game after just 17 ticks of the clock. Hansen redirected a shot from the blue line while in front of the net, putting the puck past Jonathan Quick. Five minutes later, Brown answered back with another shorthanded goal, busting past two defenders and backhanding the puck beyond Roberto Luongo.

Vancouver did have a few chances to tie the game during the final minutes of the period, but Quick proved to be a brick wall. He's made 24 of 25 saves so far. Luongo has faced just 17 shots and made 15 saves. His offense will need to do better than going 0-for-4 on the power play.

For more on the Canucks, visit Nucks Misconduct. For updates on the Kings, check out Jewels From the Crown and SB Nation Los Angeles.

Green Men Trying Acrobatics, Inducing Facepalms

2012-04-14T03:46:03Z

You already know the green men -- those lovely gentlemen in green body suits who occupy the space next to the opponent's penalty box in Vancouver. They do wacky things and generally try to either make the penalized player laugh or get inside his head. Either way, it's almost always caught on camera.

Their latest trick was to try a little acrobatic maneuver. It's just a headstand, but there's a lot going on in the GIF after the jump. Pretty sure Green Man No. 2 is ripping up a Burger King crown. Also pretty sure Justin Williams facepalms at the perfect time, without seeing the antics happening beside him.

Oh, and there was this from earlier, too.

Never a dull moment near the penalty box.

Canucks Vs. Kings, NHL Playoffs 2012 Game 2: Los Angeles Takes 2-1 Lead In 2nd Period

2012-04-14T03:31:09Z

The Los Angeles Kings took a 2-1 lead over the Vancouver Canucks during the first half of the second period after giving up a 1-0 lead just seconds into the frame. Dustin Brown scored his second shorthanded goal of the game at 5:17 in the period, which came exactly five minutes after Jannik Hansen tied the game at one. Brown's first shorthanded goal came at 19:51 in the first period.

For his second goal, Brown battled through traffic on his own end of the ice to escape with the puck down the right side of the ice. He was then able to get ahead of the two defenders chasing him. He then crossed in front of Roberto Luongo and backhanded the puck in for the shorthanded goal. Willie Mitchell was in the box for holding.

The Canucks are 0-for-3 on the power play and have allowed goals twice while with the man advantage. Luongo has made 11 saves on 13 shots.

For more on the Canucks, visit Nucks Misconduct. For updates on the Kings, check out Jewels From the Crown and SB Nation Los Angeles.

Being A Goalie Is Hard

2012-04-14T03:00:00Z

And I do mean that. It can't be easy to try to defend that little goal while having hockey pucks shot at you from all sorts of angles. Add in the padding, the glove on one hand and the stick in the other, and I can see how it might be hard to skate around.

Doesn't make a goalie flailing around any less funny, though.

Man, taken out by his own guy, too. That's rough. And yet, he still manages not to a) wreck himself or b) pull a muscle while attempting to save it (half successful; knee rules him down in college, he can get up and run in the pros).

NHL Playoffs 2012, Canucks Vs. Kings Game 2: Game Time, TV Coverage And More

2012-04-13T14:00:52Z

The Los Angeles Kings pulled the shocker of the early going in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs by upsetting the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2, in the first game of their Western Conference Quarterfinals series. If the Kings can repeat that feat in Game 2 on Friday night, they will head back to Southern California with a commanding series lead.

No. 8 Los Angeles Kings at No. 1 Vancouver Canucks
10 p.m. ET Friday -- Game 1, Western Conference Quarterfinals | Kings lead, 1-0
National TV: NBC Sports Network, CBC | Local TV: KCOP-13

The Canucks, who won the Presidents' Cup by finishing with the NHL's best regular-season record, will be looking to avoid that 2-0 hole, but they will also need to avoid being outplayed as they were in Game 1. Los Angeles had 39 shots to Vancouver's 26 and the Canucks had 27 penalty minutes to the Kings' 10. Cleaning up those errors would go a long way toward getting the Canucks a victory before they hit the road.

For more on the Canucks, visit Nucks Misconduct. For updates on the Kings, check out Jewels From the Crown and SB Nation Los Angeles.