Carter, Kopitar power Kings past Canucks

Jeff Carter scored two goals in the third period, and Jonathan Quick made 21 saves to help the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Staples Center on Monday.
Anze Kopitar (one goal, two assists) and Drew Doughty had multipoint games for Los Angeles (39-22-4), which moved within a point of the Anaheim Ducks for first place in the Pacific Division. The Kings continue their five-game homestand Wednesday against the Washington Capitals.

"We probably played better against Anaheim (a 3-2 loss on Saturday) than we did tonight, but, you know what? It's a big division game and they're four points," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "We get some separation again between us and the fourth-place team."
Dan Hamhuis scored, and Ryan Miller made 24 saves for Vancouver (25-28-12). The Canucks open a four-game homestand against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.
Vancouver was 0-for-5 on the power play.
"Against this team, you have to prepare to play a grinding game," Canucks forward Daniel Sedin said. "We did, but not for a full 60 minutes."

Hamhuis opened the scoring 2:39 into the second period. With the teams at even strength, Hamhuis drove to the net and redirected Linden Vey's cross-ice feed past Quick.
Hamhuis, who went 39 games without a goal, has scored in back-to-back games and has a three-game point streak.
"It was a great pass," Hamhuis said. "Like the other night (Saturday at the San Jose Sharks), I didn't need to do much to put it in."
The Kings went ahead when Doughty and Kopitar scored 1:59 apart midway through the second period. Doughty tied the game when his wrist shot from the left circle trickled between Miller's pads at 10:07.
Kopitar gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 12:06. After Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows was whistled for tripping, Kopitar took a pass from Doughty and beat Miller with a wrist shot from the right circle. It was Kopitar's 20th goal and Doughty's 30th assist.

"Obviously, the power play has been scoring a lot lately, so we've been happy with that, but our penalty kill's been something that we've been a little concerned about," Doughty told LA Kings Insider. "We haven't been where we need to be, and tonight we were."
Carter and Vincent Lecavalier broke the game open with goals 39 seconds apart in the third period. Carter made it 3-1 when he skated into the Canucks zone with the puck and beat Miller with a wrist shot from the right circle at 11:39; Lecavalier gave the Kings a three-goal lead at 12:18 when his slap shot from the left circle squeaked past Miller.
"It was frustrating," Miller said. "Two of their shots hit me hard and trickled through me. I needed to be better."
Carter scored his second goal of the game and the 300th of his NHL career into an empty net with 3:57 remaining.
"It's good," Carter said of the milestone. "It's nice to get a couple goals, it's been a while. It was a big win for us. These division games are huge and we need these points, so it was a good one for us."