The Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in overtime in their final home game of the season at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks stacked wins down the stretch, playing with confidence and fighting for each other. In their third win in a row, Head Coach Adam Foote said he was proud of the team for pulling out a win against a heavy L.A. team jockeying for playoff positioning.
“We're doing things right. We're playing as a team,” Foote said. “They're sticking to the game plan, and what I like is every game's got a time where it's not going to go your way, there's going to be a swing. Maybe six weeks ago, probably before the break, you'd see us, maybe let two quick ones in. It happened tonight, where we got up and then they got a quick one, and we didn't panic or get off our game – that's a sign of growth.”
Jake DeBrusk scored two goals in the win, including the goal in overtime. He echoed Foote’s sentiment that they’re weathering the ups and downs of a full 60 minutes as a group.
"Obviously, it's only a couple of games here, but against teams that are fighting for playoff spots, it doesn't make it any easier,” DeBrusk said. “So probably guys, especially younger guys, know the younger defencemen, Fil goes in the box, they logged some good minutes. You know, when the Kings were kind of pushing there, they wanted to get that in regulation, so positive signs.”
Zeev Buium scored the game-tying goal to send the game into overtime. The Canucks were moving the puck, finding spaces throughout the game, and Buium and Nils Höglander connected to force the extra frame.
“You're kind of playing off instinct, obviously. A guy loses a stick, and you want to take advantage of that. Coming out that high, you can kind of isolate him and try to make a move, and luckily, it worked out. We're all making great plays, and Höggy made a great play back door, and all I had to do was tap it in, so it was a great play by all the boys,” Buium said.
Foote liked Buium’s tenacity and scrappy play, and his desire to give the fans something to cheer for on Fan Appreciation Night.
“You saw Zeev got knocked down twice, and he got up and he went right back at the guy, he had no fear. That's got to be a good feeling for the fans to see that he's a young guy, he’s going to get stronger, but he's playing tenacious, and it's a good sign for the future,” Foote said.
Between the pipes, Kevin Lankinen stopped 31 of 34 shots he faced.
Goals
In the first period, defenceman Elias Pettersson put the Canucks on the board, receiving a pass from Kirill Kudryavtsev and unleashing from the top of the left circle.
