Music: {allcanada} Kings put Canucks on brink with 1-0 win

Sunday, April 15, 2012

{allcanada} Kings put Canucks on brink with 1-0 win

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LOS ANGELES – Dustin Brown leveled his captain counterpart and dealt a serious blow to the Vancouver Canucks.

Brown scored his fourth goal of the series in the third period and Jonathan Quick made 41 saves for his second career playoff shutout as the Los Angeles Kings defeated Vancouver, 1-0, in Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals on Sunday night at Staples Center.

L.A. took a commanding 3-0 series lead. It is trying to become the ninth No.8 seed to upset a No.1 seed since the NHL went to its current playoff format in 1993. Game 4 is in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The Kings knew they needed to be better in 5-on-5 play, and Brown's goal came during even strength after Los Angeles forced Vancouver to ice the puck.

Brown hammered home Justin Williams' rebound from the left side on L.A.'s 17th shot of the game at 6:30 of the third. Cory Schneider left the rebound after Anze Kopitar fed Williams for a quick shot.

Vancouver outplayed the Kings for most of the game until L.A. finally generated pressure on Schneider, who started in place of Roberto Luongo and saw little action through 40 minutes. The Canucks went 0-for-4 on the power play and are 0-for-14 for the series.

Brown leveled Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin with a late shoulder-to-shoulder hit near Vancouver's bench early in the second period that forced Sedin to the dressing room for about six minutes of game time.

Vancouver spent the last half of the second period in L.A.'s end, but had nothing to show for it. Quick stopped Christopher Tanev to help kill three power plays and the Kings gave themselves a chance despite generating no offense with nearly nine minutes of power-play time.

Hostilities -- and the ensuing penalties -- highlighted the beginning of the second. Brown's hit on Sedin set off retaliation, including a Kevin Bieksa hip check that sent Brown flying in the air.

Schneider didn't see much action in the first period because his teammates carried the play and held L.A. to one shot on goal through the first 12 minutes and five total. The Canucks also killed two power plays, while their offense saw Jannik Hansen hit the left post and Alexandre Burrows stopped on a great leg pad save by Quick.

The Kings had a 3-on-1 rush in the first, but Brown's shot deflected off Schneider's mask.

L.A. snapped a five-game home playoff losing streak. It had not won at Staples since Game 3 of the 2010 quarterfinals, also against Vancouver.