Kopitar leads Kings to win over Canucks for 4th straight victory

VANCOUVER: Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist to help the Los Angeles Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.

Blake Lizote and Kevin Fiala also scored for the Kings, and Cam Talbot finished with 21 saves.

“It got a litle hairy there at the end, there’s no question,” Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller said. “A couple of saves by (Talbot) and guys blocked some shots, got it done. It’s a good team. We’re proud to beat them.”

Brock Boeser and Sam Lafferty had goals for Vancouver, which snapped a three-game win streak. Casey Desmith had 16 saves.

“They’re a great team. We know what to expect and prety much every game from here on out is going to be like that,” Lafferty said. “So I think we’re gearing up, we’re trending in the right direction. It just wasn’t our night.”

The Canucks had a chance to become the first team to clinch a playoff berth. However, they remained one point ahead of Colorado and Dallas forthetopspotinthewesternconferencestandings.

Trailing 3-1, the Canucks pulled Desmith in favor of an extra skater with just over 4 1/2 minutes remaining. The move paid off when Boeser’s shot from the top of the right faceoff circle hit Kopitar’s skate and deflected in past Talbot, pulling Vancouver within one with 2:54 let. Boeserleadsvancouverwith37goalsontheseason. Canucks coach Rick Tocchet called a 30-second timeout with less than a minute to go. With Desmith once again out of the net, Vancouver pressed for the tying goal. The Canucks got a prime opportunity when L.A.‘S Drew Doughty was sent to the box for tripping with 21 seconds to go, but they couldn’t bury a final shot during the stretch of 6-on-4 play.

“There’s going to be a lot of hard games here coming down and I think this is good prep for us,” Canucks forward J.T. Miller said. “And we’ve got to find a way to win games like that, not give up the late one in the second or whatever happened. I mean, they’re all tight against L.A. That’s just going to be how it is this time of year.”

Thekingstooka3-1advantagelateinthesecond, scoring twice in less than two minutes.

Lizote put Los Angeles ahead 2-1 with 3:31 to go on a delayed penalty ater Vancouver’s Carson Soucy was clocked for tripping. With six skaters on the ice, Lizote fired a one timer that hit Canucks defenseman Ian Cole at the side of the net before pingingoffsoucy’sskatesonthewayinpastdesmith.