Kopitar, Kings hold off Canucks for 4th straight win

VANCOUVER -- Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist, and the Los Angeles Kings won their fourth straight game with a 3-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Monday.

Kevin Fiala and Blake Lizotte scored, and Cam Talbot made 21 saves for the Kings (38-22-11), who opened a four-game Canada road trip with their fifth win in their past six games.

Los Angeles pulled within one point of the Edmonton Oilers for second place in the Pacific Division.

“Not a whole lot of room out there. A gritty game, physical, emotional, all of the above,” Kopitar said. “We're getting down to the last with 11 games left, so it's definitely nice to have this kind of atmosphere and this kind of pressure at the end of the game."

Brock Boeser and Sam Lafferty scored, and Casey DeSmith made 16 saves for the Canucks (45-19-8), who could have clinched a Stanley Cup Playoff berth with a win. Vancouver lost for the first time in four games and in regulation for the second time in its past 10 (7-2-1).

“We knew it was going to be like a playoff game and we battled, but yeah, frustrating,” Lafferty said. “They’re a great team. We know what to expect and pretty much every game from here on out is going to be like that, so I think we're gearing up. We're trending in the right direction, it just wasn't our night.”

Fiala gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead at 7:01 of the first period after the Canucks got caught with only one defenseman on the ice on a change. Pierre-Luc Dubois passed from the right dot to Fiala, who was alone just inside the left face-off circle and scored with a quick shot into an open net before DeSmith could get across.

“[Assistant coach Adam Foote] told the guy to go. For some reason he didn’t jump and it was too late," Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said of not having two defensemen on the ice.

Lafferty tied it 1-1 at 12:50, cutting through the low slot and tucking the puck past the outstretched glove of a sprawled Talbot.

Lizotte put the Kings back ahead 2-1 at 16:29 of the second period, scoring on a delayed penalty against Carson Soucy. With Talbot on the bench for the extra attacker, Kopitar sent a cross-ice pass to Lizotte at the right dot for a one-timer that bounced in off both of Soucy’s skates as he battled with Trevor Lewis in front.

“We have some guys who have been in this league a long time and they know what it's like to play this time of year and deep into the playoffs, and that's where games are won when there's not a lot of space out there,” Lizotte said of Lewis. “Where you win those games is in the crease and around the net. You don't always get the bounces. Tonight, my goal had nine, 10, 12 bounces, whatever it was, before it went in. Vancouver's a good team, but I think for sure we were good in front of the net.”

Kopitar extended it to 3-1 at 18:20. He circled around behind the net and tapped the puck in after his initial shot from the right circle popped out of DeSmith’s glove and bounced to the far post as linemates Adrian Kempe and Quinton Byfield, who each got an assist on the play, battled in front of the net.

“I was just hoping it was going to lay there just enough so I could come around the net, and it did,” Kopitar said.

It was the fourth straight multipoint game for Kopitar, who has nine points (four goals, five assists) during the streak.

Kempe has eight points (one goal, seven assists) during a four-game point streak of his own, and Byfield has an assist in three straight games.

“We're getting better as a line, for sure,” Kopitar said. “We're getting the mojo back. We're getting the confidence and the belief back. Last few games we've been clicking and making some plays that resulted in goals, and that's why you're feeling more confident and more at ease on the ice and it seems that time really slows down or the play slows down a little.”

Boeser cut it to 3-2 at 17:07 of the third period with DeSmith pulled for the extra attacker, scoring with a slap shot from the top of the right circle that bounced in off Kopitar’s skate in the slot. The Canucks had one shot on goal in the period before pulling DeSmith for the first time at 15:27.

Vancouver then got a power play with 21 seconds left and DeSmith pulled again but only got one shot off.

“Third period was our best period and until they got the goal [with] the empty net, I thought we handled them pretty well,” Kings interim coach Jim Hiller said. “Didn't give them much at all. It got a little hairy there at the end, there's no question. A couple of saves by [Talbot] and guys blocked some shots, got it done. It's a good team. We're proud to beat them.”

NOTES: Kopitar’s assist was his 40th of the season, marking the 14th time he’s reached that milestone, which is tied with Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the most among active NHL players. ... Canucks center Elias Lindholm missed his first game since being acquired from the Calgary Flames on Jan. 31 with an undisclosed injury. He is day to day.