Stoll, Kings close out Canucks
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - With a quick flick of his wrists, Jarret Stoll sent the Los Angeles Kings on to the second round and the Vancouver Canucks into the offseason a lot sooner than they expected after leading the NHL during the regular season.
Stoll beat Cory Schneider at 4:27 of overtime to give Los Angeles a 2-1 victory over Vancouver on Sunday, ousting the top-seeded Canucks in five games in the Western Conference first-round series.
Stoll scored from the left wing after a turnover at Vancouver blue line. The forward skated in on a 2-on-1, but took the shot himself, picking the top left corner above Schneider's blocker.
"It's special," Stoll said. "It's pride in the organization, and your team and your teammates and coaching staff. They're a great team over there. It took a lot to beat them."
Brad Richardson tied it for Los Angeles at 3:21 of the third period, and Jonathan Quick made 26 saves.
"To close out this series, for me personally, and a few guys in the room, it's something we've never done, so it's a great feeling," Quick said.
The Kings will play the second-seeded St. Louis Blues in the second round.
"You've got to give credit to the Kings," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "They played a real great series, a real tough opponent, played strong hockey, made the strong plays on the ice and, at the end of the day, they deserved to win."
Henrik Sedin opened the scoring for Vancouver with a power-play goal in the first period.
Schneider made 35 saves in his third straight start after Roberto Luongo lost the first two games.
"If you play the way we did in the last three every game you'll be in every game and then our skill is going to take over," Henrik Sedin said. "In the first game, we took way too many penalties. In the second, the power play cost us the game. If you do that in a seven-game series, you give away two games, you've got to win four out of five and that's tough when they don't give you an inch out there."
The Canucks dropped out in the first round after leading the NHL in regular-season points for the second straight year. Last season, they lost to Boston in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
"To be honest, it doesn't matter if you lose the seventh game of the Finals or you lose in five in the first round, it's devastating," Daniel Sedin said. "We have the mindset to win every year."
Vancouver's new second line of Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows and Max Lapierre made a quick impression. Burrows fed Kesler from behind the net about a 90 seconds in, but Quick stopped the center's shot from the slot.
The Canucks capitalized on their second power play when Henrik Sedin converted a cross-ice pass from Daniel Sedin with 5:56 left in the first period.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
■ FLYERS FINISH OFF PENGUINS - At Philadelphia, Claude Giroux flattened Sidney Crosby 5 seconds into the game, scored his sixth goal of the series 27 seconds later and led the Flyers to a clinching 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6.
Giroux had a goal and two assists, and Ilya Bryzgalov had his first outstanding effort in net as the Flyers closed out the series after having won the first three games. Bryzgalov allowed 20 goals in the first five games, but gave up only Evgeni Malkin's goal in the second period.
■ BRUINS STAY ALIVE IN OVERTIME - At Washington, Tyler Seguin scored 3:17 into overtime, Tim Thomas made 36 saves and the Boston Bruins beat the Capitals 4-3 to tie the Eastern Conference first-round series at 3-all.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins never trailed, but needed a stolen pass and a deft bit of skating to get the decisive goal and avoid being eliminated by the seventh-seeded Capitals. Game 7 is Wednesday in Boston.
