LOS ANGELES – Roberto Luongo came back. Unfortunately for the Vancouver Canucks, so did the Los Angeles Kings. Again.
Just as they did in a home-ice loss to Los Angeles six weeks ago, the Canucks blew a third-period lead and lost to the Kings, 3-1 Saturday night at the Staples Center. At least on Nov. 25, the Canucks collected a point by getting to overtime before losing 3-2. Tonight, they got nothing.
The Canucks' failure again to hold a lead cost them four points in the National Hockey League standings. Instead of moving one point clear of the Kings in the ferocious Western Conference, Vancouver slipped three points adrift.
“In our division, we're going to have to learn to battle harder,” Canuck coach John Tortorella said. “And it starts with our forwards, as far as the forecheck. Our (defencemen) were under siege all night long. If we're going to compete in our division the second half of this year, we're going to need to be more consistent.”
“They just wanted it more by the end of the night,” Canuck Ryan Kesler said. “They worked us down low. What we were doing the first half of the game kind of flip-flopped, and they did it to us. A couple of breakdowns and they capitalized.”
Luongo's return from a minor groin injury was spectacular for two periods, but ruined in the third when a juicy rebound allowed Dustin Brown to tie it at 1:07. The goalie was down early when Jeff Carter scored the winner at 12:05.
With the Kings' attacking 2-on-4, Carter was open in the high slot to whip a shot over Luongo's left shoulder after Dwight King outhustled Canuck defenceman Jason Garrison to a loose puck.
Brown's tying goal came on a big rebound served up by Luongo on a long-range shot by Justin Williams.
“It would have been ideal if we would have won,” Luongo said when asked if facing 49 shots was the best way to return from injury. “Disappointing third period for me. I want to at least get that game to overtime. Just disappointing the way things turned out in the third period for me. You never want to give up a third-period lead – doesn't matter who you play.
“It would have been nice to win the game and go ahead of them, but there's still a lot of hockey left.”
Indeed there is. After getting schooled by the Kings for the final 30 minutes, the Canucks get to play again Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks, another Pacific Division titan and one that is 16-0-2 at home this season.
After a 10-1-2 surge in December lifted the Canucks back into playoff position, Vancouver has suddenly lost three straight for the first time since mid-November.
The Kings outshot the Canucks 49-28 to earn their first victory in six games. Los Angeles is 3-0 against Vancouver despite twice trailing into the final period.
“It's not good enough,” winger Daniel Sedin said after squandering the Canucks' best chance to salvage a point, a point-blank shot in the final minute before Carter added an empty-netter. “It started in the second period tonight. That's when we started giving up a lot of 3-on-2s. Our third (forward) has to stay high for us to be successful, and tonight he wasn't there.”
“Our game changed in the second period after just an abysmal power play,” Tortorella said. “They gained some momentum off of that and we never regained any puck possession or zone time. (The Kings were) beating us to pucks, winning the battles.”
The power play in question began just 55 seconds into the second period, with the Canucks up 1-0, after Brown slashed Kevin Bieksa.
Vancouver's 25th-ranked power play, reconfigured after going 1-for-19 over the previous seven games, produced the only goal of the first period at 12:27.
After the brothers Sedin worked a give-and-go, Henrik slid a pass across the slot to Kesler, who slung a high shot into the net while falling as goalie Jonathan Quick scrambled to get across his goalmouth.
Quick also was returning from a groin injury, but a far more serious one than Luongo's. Quick made 27 saves in his first game since Nov. 12. Luongo was injured Dec. 22.
Expected to be named Tuesday to Canada's Olympic team, Luongo could face Team USA's Quick at the Olympics in Russia next month.
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