Canucks defeat Kings to end eight-game losing streak

LOS ANGELES -- Elias Pettersson had a goal and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks ended an eight-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Saturday.

Adam Gaudette scored his first NHL goal, Sam Gagner and Tyler Motte also scored, and Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves for the Canucks (11-13-2), who were 0-7-1 in the streak.
"It's always nice to get the winning goal," said Pettersson, who leads NHL rookies with 13 goals. "We had too many losses in a row, so it's nice to be back on the winning side. We played good tonight."
WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Kings highlights]
Rookie forward Matt Luff scored in his third straight game, Drew Doughty also scored, and Cal Petersen made 25 saves for the Kings (7-14-1), who are 2-6-0 in their past eight games.

Pettersson intercepted a diagonal outlet pass from Kings defenseman Dion Phaneuf just inside the Los Angeles blue line, skated in and beat Petersen with a wrist shot at 10:23 of the third period for a 3-2 lead.
It was the first shot on goal of the period for the Canucks.
"I cost our team one point for sure, if not two," Phaneuf said. "That's on me. That's a mistake that can't happen."
Motte scored shorthanded into an empty net with 1:19 left to make it 4-2.
Each team scored twice in the second period.
Luff scored his third NHL goal on a breakaway to tie the game 2-2 at 16:35.
"Both of their defensemen went to the wall and I saw it, so I burst out of the zone and [Carl Hagelin] made a nice saucer pass to me," Luff said. "I just threw a fake and [coach Willie Desjardins] tells us before the game what to do on goalies, and that was part of it, so it all worked out and we tied the game, but we've got to get the next goal and play with a lead."
Gaudette had given the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 5:12.
Jake Virtanen won the puck on the forecheck, and Nikolay Goldobin passed it back to Virtanen at the top of the left circle. Virtanen spun and passed it to Gaudette coming through the right hash marks and he scored on a one-timer.
"It felt good to get the monkey off the back there," said Gaudette, who was playing his 25th NHL game. "I just came off the bench and went hard to the net and it went in. ... I think it happened pretty fast. I didn't really process it right away but it's a great feeling, and it's a relief to get that first one for sure, and hopefully they start coming in bunches now."
Doughty ended an 0-for-16 stretch on the power play for the Kings when he scored on a slap shot through traffic at 7:23 to tie the game 1-1. It was his first goal in 14 games.
The Canucks came back with a power-play goal by Gagner at 12:18 to take a 2-1 lead.
Pettersson passed from the top of the right circle to Bo Horvat below the goal line, and Horvat made a quick pass to Gagner coming through the slot. Gagner scored his first goal of the season on a one-timer.

They said it

"We've got to go back home and we can't take our foot off the pedal now. It's just not going to be easy. We've got to play every night like we did tonight and we'll keep winning games." -- Canucks forward Jake Virtanen
"He's a good, young player. He has some size (6-foot-2, 190 pounds) and some speed and made a great move on that goal." -- Kings coach Willie Desjardins on Luff

Need to know

Pettersson is the eighth NHL player since 1984-85 to score at least 13 goals through the first 20 games of his NHL career. … Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler returned after missing the past 15 games with a sprained right MCL. He had one shot and was plus-1 in 16:19. … Horvat has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in past 10 games. … Goldobin has six points (two goals, four assists) in the past five games. ... Los Angeles forward Ilya Kovalchuk does not have a point in his past eight games after scoring 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his first 14 games. … The Kings have the fewest first-period goals (11) and third-period goals (14) in the NHL.

What's next

Canucks: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Kings: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, SNW, NHL.TV)