Overtime was not kind to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1, but I think they’ll be a bit happier with their performance in Game 2, as Anze Kopitar’s shot redirected in off the knob of Roberto Luongo’s stick to give the Kings a 3-2 overtime win and even the series. Give the Kings credit for hanging tough in this one, and Jonathan Quick in particular. After giving up 2 goals on the first four shots of the game, Quick battled back to finish the game with 30 saves and keep the Kings in this one.
Steve Bernier scored a powerplay goal and Mikael Samuelsson scored his 3rd goal of the game just two minutes later to give the Canucks an early 2-0 lead. It was good to see the Kings come out strong in the 2nd, despite being down two goals after outshooting Vancouver 8-4 in the first period.
Los Angeles’ powerplay has been one of the biggest reasons they’ve been able to stay competitive in this series, converting 4 of 9 opportunities already. Freddie Modin scored his 2nd goal of the playoffs with a powerplay marker midway through the 2nd period to cut the Canucks’ lead in half. Thirty-five seconds later, Anze Kopitar fed Wayne Simmonds, playing on the first line with Justin Williams out of the lineup, on a 2-on-1 and the big winger buried it to knot the game at 2-2.
After a tightly-played 3rd, the two teams went to overtime for the 2nd time in as many games, and this time, Luongo’s heroics in net weren’t enough to save Vancouver. The Canucks were whistled down for a controversial too many men on the ice call, as the puck struck Kevin Bieksa, who was headed to the bench after being cut in the face making a diving defensive play to break up a Los Angeles rush. With a wholesale line change being made, the refs called them for the infraction, but since Bieksa was heading off the ice and not coming on, he probably shouldn’t have been penalized.
What makes the call so controversial is the fact that the Kings scored the game winning goal with the man advantage, as they opened up the Canucks’ defense with some great lateral passing before Anze Kopitar ripped a shot on net that Luongo made the initial save on, but deflected in with the butt end of his stick