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Last season, the Canucks struggled to figure out how to beat Jonathan Quick. That wasn't the case on Tuesday night as the Canucks defeated the Kings 3-0 at the Staples Center.
Adam Cracknell and Alex Edler scored for the Canucks (Derek Dorsett added a late empty netter) while Ryan Miller delivered the 35th shutout of his career as Vancouver improved to 3-0-1 to start the year, all against division opponents. Miller made 28 saves on the night.
Ryan Miller is the "extremely premature why am I even saying this" team MVP right now.
— Grady S (@GradySas) October 14, 2015
Early in the first period, Brandon Prust dropped the gloves with Andy Andreoff after some bumping and chirping. With the fight, Prust surpassed the mark of 1,000 career penalty minutes.
Prust is that friend that gets into fights at the bar so much that you just sigh when you see it and let him punch himself out.
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) October 14, 2015
Two games, two fights for Prust. If shaking off the rust means he's willing to give up size for spunk, you have to like it. #Canucks
— Ben Kuzma (@benkuzma) October 14, 2015
Vancouver had one of their better chances when Derek Dorsett skated into the zone on a 2-on-1 rush, trying to go up and over the left shoulder of Jonathan Quick, but Quick was able to get his glove up and snatch the shot out of the air.
Dorsett in with Virtanen on an odd-man rush! Dorsett keeps! Just what everybody wanted him to do and he did it!
— Pass it to Bulis (@passittobulis) October 14, 2015
As expected, Jake Virtanen was showing a lot of energy in his NHL debut.
How has Virtanen been in his @NHL debut? 7 shifts, a shot, a blocked shot and two hits. Here's the biggest, so far. pic.twitter.com/TLPVATuHLN
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) October 14, 2015
Early in the second period, Adam Cracknell scored his second goal in as many games, beating Johnathan Quick with a nifty one-timer.
Snap, Cracknell, GOAL! pic.twitter.com/UofSqBjQNt
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) October 14, 2015
#Canucks Adam Cracknell now leads the Canucks in goals with 2 in 4 games on the season. We all saw this coming.
— Cam Tucker (@CamTucker_Metro) October 14, 2015
The Canucks added to their lead later in the second period as Alex Edler blasted a slapshot from the point, putting the Canucks up 2-0 at 13:22. Alex Burrows did a nice job retrieving the puck out of the corner to help set up the goal.
Edler goal pic.twitter.com/C2r8u1cWVW
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 14, 2015
Nice puck retrieval by Alex Burrows. Impressed with the checking role Burrows is gracefully embracing. Valuable piece in this lineup.
— Grady S (@GradySas) October 14, 2015
And it wouldn't be Canucks hockey without making fun of another botched Jannik Hansen breakaway. I knew there was something missing from my life.
Looks like another enjoyable season of making fun of Jannik Hansen's breakaways, because no one else on the team gets breakaways
— Pass it to Bulis (@passittobulis) October 14, 2015
Through two periods, the Canucks were dominating the game offensively, outshooting the Kings 20-9.
As a side note, in case you didn't notice this during Dan Murphy's interview with Virtanen's parents, there was an...odd moment to say the least.
Apparently you all missed this during the interview with Virtanen's Mom. Wtf? http://t.co/u8YO1NgcPZ
— BrowntoBure (@BrowntoBure) October 14, 2015
You do you, dude. You do you.
Early in the third period, the Kings brought some pressure on net, registering three shots in about 30 seconds, nearly cutting Vancouver's lead in half.
Mayhem early. Kings with three shots already in 3rd. pic.twitter.com/n7Mva0bmiR
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) October 14, 2015
Ryan Miller stood his ground, delivering a shutout performance for the Canucks. Derek Dorsett capped off the night with an empty net goal as the Canucks defeated the Kings 3-0.
The Canucks now head home to face the St. Louis Blues on Friday night at Rogers Arena, with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 PM PT on Sportsnet Vancouver.
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