Since the end of the Four Nations Face-Off tournament break, the Vancouver Canucks have not fared well, having lost to both the Vegas Golden Knights and the Utah Hockey Club.
On Wednesday night, they faced divisional opposition in the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, where they managed to fight back into the win column despite blowing a multi-goal lead.
The Canucks won by a 3-2 final score in overtime thanks to Connor Garland's winner in the extra session, helping to improve their record to 27-20-11; the Kings fell to 31-17-8.
Vancouver opened the scoring just before the midway point of the first period thanks to the fifth goal of the season from Nils Hoglander, giving the Canucks a 1-0 lead, which they would take into the first intermission.
The Canucks then doubled their lead in the second period after Garland scored his 15th goal of the season and what was his first of the game.
However, Vancouver proved to be unable to maintain that lead. The Kings fought their way back into the game and knotted the score thanks to goals from Adrian Kempe and Warren Foegele, their 26th and 16th goals of the season, respectively.
Both teams headed to overtime deadlocked at 2-2; after killing off a penalty, the Canucks picked up the win thanks to Garland's second goal of the game and 16th of the season:
Kevin Lankinen finished with 24 saves in a winning effort while the Kings got 14 saves on 17 shots from David Rittich.
3 most impressive Vancouver Canucks players from 3-2 OT win over Los Angeles Kings
#1. Connor Garland
Leading the way offensively for the Canucks was Garland, who not only scored in regulation but also potted the game-winning goal in overtime to secure the extra point for his club.
He also finished with a +1 rating with a team-high four shots on goal.
#2. Filip Chytil
Still in his first few weeks with the Canucks since the blockbuster trade from the New York Rangers late last month, Chytil racked up a pair of assists for the Vancouver as part of the win over the Kings.
He also registered a +1 rating and blocked a Kings shot as well.
#3. Filip Hronek
While Hronek didn't register any points, he still finished with a team-high 26:03 of ice time.
He also blocked four shots from the Kings while dishing out four hits.
The Vancouver Cancuks will look to keep their winning momentum going when they face the Anaheim Ducks next at Honda Center on Thursday.
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