Kings/Canucks Game 6

Puck is down. Crowd is rowdy and L.A. is trying to stay alive!

Game is exciting thus far. Kings applying some pressure but Kopitar take a lazy penalty and puts the Canucks on the power play.

L.A. takes one too. A little 4-on-4 before the dangerous L.A. unit gets a crack at it.


And we have a Frolov sighting. 1st of the series for him on a wrap around. Staples is rocking!

Kings with a bunch o' shots but have not converted on 2 power plays.

Lots of desperation by the Kings had the Canucks on their heels the entire 1st period. Shots are 16-5 L.A.

Early in the 2nd, Kopitar draws a penalty and hits the post all in the same play.

Kings still applying some pretty good pressure. With Luongo down and out, he makes a ridiculous save on Smyth.

Quick strike on the power play for the Canucks.

Steve Bernier should get credit for the goal. Game is tied at 1 just about halfway through regulation.

Kings go on the power play and it looks like it did at the beginning of the series.


Drew Doughty scores just as the penalty to the Canucks had expired. Staples goes crazy and the Kings lead 2-1.

Fast and furious action the last 5 minutes of the 2nd. Kings will take a 2-1 lead into the 3rd.

That lead does not last long.


Quick leaves the post a little early and Kevin Bieksa ties at 2.


Late in the third on a broken play, Daniel Sedin breaks a bunch of L.A. hearts and beats quick.

Add an empty net goal by Alex Burrows and Vancouver eliminates the Kings in 6 games.

So much for my sexy pick out west.

Kings/Canucks Game 5

Just about halfway through the 1st and we have had several penalties called.


Bernier bangs one home off a lively bounce from the backboard. Terrible defensive coverage didn't help too much either. Quick had no chance.


Fluke goal by Handzus deflects off a Canucks D-man and gets past Luongo. Pretty good chance that this was on the power play for a L.A. and you guessed it.......it was!


Puck bouncing around and the Kings cannot clear. Alex Edler gets a goal that Quick slows down but it still crosses the line.

Momentum swinging back toward the Canucks. The shift right after the goal, the draw a penalty and go a man up.

Just about a minute into the 2nd, Jack Johnson is whistled for tripping. Big kill needed here for the Kings.


Right off a face-off, Daniel Sedin gets 2 whacks and puts the 'Nucks up 3-1.

The wheels are loose on the Kings' bus but haven't fallen off yet. They are once again shorthanded.

Kings cycle down low in the Canucks zone but get nothing accomplished.


Mikael Samuelsson rips one past Quick who almost seemed to duck as the puck flew in the net. 4-1 Canucks and curtains for Quick. Erik Ersberg now in goal for the Kings.

With the Kings on the power play, Dustin Brown draws a penalty giving the Kings a 2-man advantage for 28 seconds. If the Kings are going to claw their wat back into this game, the time is now. The Kings get nothing done on the power play.

The period ends with the Canucks up 4-1.

Less than 5 minutes into the 3rd and.......it's now 5-1 on a goal by Demitra.

Kings bounce right back..Freddy Modin bangs one home. 5-2 'Nucks.

Kings down a man and destroying any hopes of a comeback.

Did someone say blowout?Mikael Samuelsson again. Now 6-2.

Goaltending carousel in net for the Kings as Quick is back in there.

Quick does not fare too much better.


Big Steve Bernier adds the extra point and makes it 7-2 Canucks. Sheesh!

Kings trying to make a statement dropping gloves etc. Even that isn't working.

Put it in the books kids. The Canucks kicked their ass. Plain and simple. Game 6 at Staples with the Kings' season on the line.

Canucks/Kings Game 4

Craziness that Quick is outdueling the gold medal winner from north of the border. Because of that, L.A. has got the Canucks on the ropes. Looking to tighten the noose a little more tonight. No score 7 minutes into the game. 7 hits for each team and a total of 5 shots between them. Physicality anyone?

And the trend continues. Power play goal for the Kings. Drew Doughty lights the lamp. I will say it again. He is a stud.

1-0 after 20 minutes. I can finally do some real blogging after the 2OT thriller in Beantown is over and Versus can show this game.

Play is underway in the 2nd. Luongo looks to be fighting every puck. Even on the Doughty goal, he dropped his stick, tried to pick it up with the blocker (a la Hasek) and still couldn't cover it. Did the big man flame out from the heavy workload and the Olympics?

Kings take a penalty and Ehrhoff blows one by Quick from the point that he didn't even see. All sorts of gridlock traffic in front.

The very potent (8-for-13) Kings power play gets another shot after Bieksa get called for a hook.

When will it ever stop!?!? Another man advantage tally fpr the Kings. Face-off win and Dustin Brown (whose jersey I was sporting tonight) goes top shelf on Luongo.

We have a holding the stick call on the Kings. Quick with some stops early and late during the 2:00. Great team D for L.A. Just noticed on the last play, all 5 guys were between the goal line and the top of the circles. Preventing any and all cross-ice passes.

Here we go again. L.A. to the power play. Holy cow, the Canucks kept the puck out of the net. Jack Johnson had all day to shoot from the top of the circle but Luongo was up to the task.

Terrible change by the Kings. Demitra beats Quick on a perfect shot inside the post.

We get a little 4-on-4 late in the third and the Canucks almost bury one. Quick makes the save but has no idea where the rebound went. Kings gain the puck and come down the ice. In the process, the Kings draw a delayed call but they don't need the power play this time. Kopitar tips one past Luongo from a really odd angle. 3-2 Kings.

It seems that the boys from L.A. have an answer everytime the Canucks score. Lotta fight and no panic/urgency.

2nd period ends with the Kings up by a goal. It's playoff hockey folks so I am sure the 3rd is going to be a dandy.

Observation #2 - the hockey hotbed of Los Angeles has a more raucous crowd than the folks over there in Hockeytown.

Early on in the third period, Luongo still seems to be fighting the puck. Kings need to shoot from the bench and keep plugging away. With the Kings on the power play again, Luongo stops a deflected shot that bounced along the ice like a tennis ball.

And Luongo is a totally different goalie here in the 3rd period. He just robbed Frolov on a clear breakaway. Has anyone seen Alex's wallet?

Great deflection by Samuelsson and he scores his 5th in the series. Game is tied up at 3 with 12:08 to go. Looks to be another gem of a game. Pretty much all of them have been.

Lots of too many men penalties in a lot of these games. It finally catches up to the Kings. Sami Salo with a one-timer bomb that beats Quick blocker side. Been a while since the Canucks had a lead. 7 minutes to for the Kings to get one by Luongo.

And it doesn't take long. Lively boards. Ryan Smyth bangs the point shot/pass out in front and Wayne Simmonds bangs it by Luongo. My heart is racing with excitement at 12:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

Back and forth we go in a crazy 3rd period. Henrik Sedin puts the Canucks back on top 5-4 with less than 3 minutes to go. This game is crazy!

Less than a minute to go and Quick is on the bench. Kesler gains the red line and puts one in the empty net. 6-4 final and the series is tied. Heading back to Vancouver for Game 5.

As promised, some Wednesday Game 4 previews.

DISCLAIMER FOR TONIGHT: Gonna be tough to blog these early games. Got my daughter hitting the ice to play goalie at 6 p.m. and then my son plays right after at 7:15.

Buffalo @ Boston 7p.m.

This has been a really physical series so expect more of that tonight. Especially from Buffalo as they try to tie up the series. That Tuukka Rask guy might have something to say about it though. Miller has't played bad it's just Rask has been better. This is the year of the hot Finnish goaltender. Rask, Niemi and Rinne. Love watching them all. One year removed from a nomination and eventual Vezina win, Tim Thomas is now a Bruins cheerleader. Hockey is crazy like that sometimes.

Washington @ Montreal 7p.m.

I don't know what to think of this one. The most interesting things to watch are who gets the start in goal for the Habs and can they compete a little better than they did the other night. Montreal fans are some of the most passionate in the league. Will they be cheering or booing tonight? Ovechkin had one SOG (and it went in) in Game 3. The Caps are a really deep team and although you may stop 1 of their snipers, there are 2 or 3 lying in wait ready to do some damage (i.e. Backstrom).

Vancouver @ Los Angeles 10p.m.

This game will have my undivided attention. Can the Kings rattle Luongo's cage like they did the other night. It was discussed that he doesn't play well at Staples Center. Hey man, you are a world class goalie. At every rink, the puck is 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Figure out how to pull off a win or it will be another disappointing season for the boys from B.C. Oh by the way, Drew Doughty is a stud. Ice time between games 2 and 3 decreased but in game 3 he still played 25 minutes....and had 4 points.