Vancouver Canucks F Nikolay Goldobin Scores Winner Against Kings in First Game

Horvat, Baertschi and Eriksson also combined for seven points, as the Canucks built a four-goal lead, then hung on to win 4-3 against the Kings.

For two periods, it was hard to believe it was a Vancouver Canucks game.

Through 40 minutes, Vancouver had built themselves a 4-1 lead, courtesy of two goals by Sven Baertschi and one each from Henrik Sedin and Nikolay Goldobin. Besides that, Henrik and Daniel Sedin combined for six penalty minutes.

OK, that’s just weird.

Luckily, things quickly reverted back to normal. Young Goldobin, in his first game as a Canuck, was effectively benched for the back half of the game. Meanwhile, Jayson Megna, who finished the game minus-13 in shot attempts, started taking his Goldobin’s place on the third line. Now that’s more like it — thanks Willie Desjardins!

The Los Angeles Kings outshot Vancouver 44-21 in the game, including 25 in the second period alone. Ryan Miller was forced to stand on his head to keep his team in it. And, though three of those 44 shots slipped by him, he was able to hold on and maintain the win for Vancouver.

Final Score:

Canucks Player of the Game:

This was Goldobin’s first game with Vancouver after he was trade for Jannik Hansen earlier in the week.

His first goal was a beauty which came on a second period breakaway:

Not a bad debut!

His goal made the score 4-0. Baertschi opened the scoring in the first, when Eriksson’s shot bounced right onto his stick:

Unlucky play for Ben Bishop, who made the initial save only to see the rebound go right into the slot. His luck did not improve on the Canucks’ next two goals:

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/838235089939005441

Henrik’s goal was actually supposed to be a pass, which took a big deflection off Drew Doughty‘s stick.

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Initially, it looked like the third goal was put into the Kings’ net by their own player, Nick Dowd. However, the NHL later determined that Baertschi had touched the puck, and awarded him a second goal.

Regardless, the new line of Horvat, Eriksson and Baertschi has played well since being assembled last game. Horvat and Eriksson earned an assist on each of Baertschi’s goals tonight, with Bo earning an additional point on Henrik’s goal.

After taking the 4-0 lead, the Kings effectively took over the game. Helped along by a string of penalty calls against Vancouver, they buried the Canucks in their own end for long stretches. With Miller under siege, LA took the game right down to the wire.

Kings Fight Back

Anze Kopitar got them on the board late in the second:

Then Trevor Lewis scored midway through the third:

Both those goals came on the power play. The Kings took a penalty with two minutes remaining, but pulled the goalie all the same to try to tie the game. Shorthanded, Alec Martinez got them within one:

But after that the Canucks managed to hold them at bay until time expired.

It was a nail-biter, and Vancouver was laughably outshot, but the end result is a victory over a division rival.

Next: Canucks Should Re-Sign Ryan Miller

The Vancouver Canucks improved their record to 27-30-7, and earned just their ninth road win of the season. They are back in action tomorrow night against the Anaheim Ducks.