Canucks 2, Kings 1 (OT): More noise on ice than off it to earn victory

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The game on the ice wasn’t supposed to be trumped by the one off it Tuesday.

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And in the end, it wasn’t.

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There was plenty of incentive for the Vancouver Canucks to avenge a sobering 5-1 home-ice loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, but there was also considerable curiosity with the looming NHL trade deadline Friday.

It was going to grab some level of attention because the Canucks aren’t immune to what’s out there. It’s why a 2-1 overtime victory tested their resolve to stay in the moment and block out the noise on the second stop of a three-game road trip.

J.T. Miller did the damage in the extra session with a 4-on-3 power play blast at 1:36 to end it. Elias Pettersson also scored and Thatcher Demko provided standout 23-save goaltending to ensure there would be more talk about the game than all the trade talk.

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NEXT GAME

Canucks at Golden Knights

Where/When: Thursday, 7 p.m., T-Mobile Arena
TV: SN Pacific. Radio: Sportsnet 650

Brock Boeser had two chances on one shift with less than five minutes remaining and Pettersson also had an in-tight chance to end it in regulation time. It proved all minds were in the game and not elsewhere.

“Some guys, it (trade speculation) doesn’t bother and some it’s there for a couple of weeks and in their heads,” said Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet. “I’ve been on teams where with three of four guys you could tell it affected their play.”

That was ramped up earlier in the day with a report that Canucks management is discussing flipping pending unrestricted free agent forward Elias Lindholm.

Moving the versatile forward to the Boston Bruins would create cap space to help make a play for highly-coveted Pittsburgh Penguins winger Jake Guentzel. Moving parts to complete the transaction would be many and are probably in continuous motion.

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If that wasn’t enough drama, Lindholm left the game in the first period after appearing to get tangled up in his own zone. Was he hurt? Was he being held out in a pending trade or to protect the asset? He returned in the second period.

Here’s what we learned as the Canucks improved to 2-0-0 on the trip that ends Thursday in Las Vegas:

Pettersson does his dekes

It looked like Pettersson was going to have another one of those nights.

He had chances. He was denied on a spinning backhand at the side of the net in the first period. He then whiffed on a cross-ice, power play feed from Quinn Hughes. And then it happened.

Pettersson came off the bench, took a corner feed from Nils Hoglander, deked Drew Doughty and zipped a wrist shot between the legs of defenceman Jacob Moverare to find the net.

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It was his 30th goal of the season, first in seven games and third in the last 13 games, and the relief showed in his goal celebration. He finished the night with four shots and five attempts.

Demko delivers the goods

Multiple breakdowns led to the Kings first goal.

However, it wouldn’t break the resolve of Demko to be the difference against a difficult opponent. The Kings prefer to play low-event hockey, deny the opposition easy entries and pounce on mistakes. But they still had ample chances to fill the net.

The most spectacular save came in the third period during a 1-1 deadlock. On a 2-on-1 break, Anze Kopitar slipped a perfect cross-ice pass to Alex Turcotte. But Demko read it and extended to make a stellar glove save.

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Demko was tested early and often in the opening period, including a tough stick save off Doughty. He then made shoulder and rebound stops in the final minute before denying a Quinton Byfield short-handed shot and then getting a shoulder on a hot Trevor Moore shot.

An old habit, a bad goal

“You can diagram it all you want, but if you don’t win puck battles, it doesn’t matter what system you play.”

That warning salvo was fired in the morning by Tocchet and exploded in the first period. When the Canucks couldn’t execute a simple and clean zone exit, the trickle-down effect was a big problem and resulted in the opening goal because the Kings feast on mistakes.

Filip Hronek was stripped behind his net by Moore to start the chaos. The puck went into the corner where Hughes was hounded by Phillip Danault. Kevin Fiala then pinched along wall and threw backhanded into the slot.

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That’s where Hronek failed to handle a bouncing puck and Danault spun and fired the puck past Hronek and Miller to a wide-open Moore at the far post.

Soucy’s return is timely

Tyler Myers out. Carson Soucy in.

With Myers sidelined week to week with a lower-body injury, the return of Soucy after missing 17 games with a hand injury — he was struck by a Mitch Marner shot on Jan. 20 — was timely.

He has been the club’s best defender and was solid on Tuesday. But he was also sidelined for 23 games after suffering a leg injury in Montreal on Nov. 12. He took a Juraj Slafkovsky shot in the back of the leg early in the second period of a 5-1 triumph.

Now, the goal is to stay healthy and get his game in order for the stretch drive and playoffs.

“It’s good to get things going and put together a good stretch here,” he said. “Just keep it as simple as I can and getting a feel for the intensity. It’s the biggest thing that you’re missing when you’re not playing.”

bkuzma@postmedia.com

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