Finishing Strong: McCann, Miller lead Canucks over playoff-bound Kings 3-2

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks are hoping wins now translate into success down the road.

Jared McCann scored the winner and Ryan Miller made 40 saves, including 20 in the third period, as the Canucks downed the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Monday night.

Vancouver was eliminated from playoff contention late last month during an 0-8-1 slid, but the season was lost long ago for an underachieving club decimated by injuries.

The Canucks picked up their first three-game winning streak of the campaign after eight failed attempts thanks to back-to-back road victories over the playoff-bound San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks last week, and Monday’s triumph over the Kings.

“We’re happy with the wins, but we know where we stand,” said Miller. “We know it’s not good enough and we’re on the outside looking in. At least on my part, I feel like there’s a foundation.”

Veteran forward Jannik Hansen said closing out strong will hopefully keep bad habits from creeping in, especially with the younger players, as the Canucks look to next season.

“You’re playing for jobs, opportunities, families, lives,” said Hansen, who scored to tie the game 2-2 in the second period. “You can’t do that to your teammates if you just check out and say ‘OK we’ll see you in October.’ You have to approach the games like it matters.”

But Canucks captain Henrik Sedin, who stood up and answered questions night after night as the losses mounted, cautioned not to read too much into this late surge.

“It would have been nice to get it earlier,” he said. “We’ve got three games to go and we’re out of it, so it doesn’t mean much. We’re playing better hockey and that’s a good sign. (But) if you think you’ve got a good thing going and you’re out of (playoffs), you’ve got to try stay away from that a little bit and be careful.”

Emerson Etem had the other goal for Vancouver (30-36-13), which had lost five straight in regulation at home dating back to March 12.

Tyler Toffoli and Kyle Clifford had the goals for the visitors as Los Angeles (46-28-5) dropped a fifth straight game on the road in regulation while falling to 2-6-0 over its last eight.

“It’s more execution than anything else,” said Kings forward Anze Kopitar. “Just too much sloppy play on our part and some penalties we just can’t take.”

Jonathan Quick stopped 21 shots for Los Angeles, which remains a point back of Anaheim for first place in the Pacific Division with three games left on the schedule. The Ducks play four more times, including a massive road game against the Kings on Thursday.

“Obviously you want to finish first, but it’s not necessarily about wins and losses either,” said Kopitar. “You want to know that your game is where it needs to be going into the playoffs and right now we are just short of that.”

Trailing 3-2 after two periods, the Kings pushed hard in the third, but couldn’t find a way past Miller, who held the fort during a barrage that included a late Los Angeles power play.

“For a while there it just didn’t seem like anything was going to go right,” Miller said of Vancouver’s recent nine-game slide. “Life’s kind of funny that way. You just have to suck it up and keep moving forward. Unfortunately it’s not going to be what we wanted this year.”

After Toffoli, with his 30th, and Etem, with his fifth, traded goals in the first, the Kings made it 2-1 at 9:15 of the second when Clifford tipped home his third of the season on a 2-on-1 rush.

Vancouver got that one back with 4:38 left in the period on the man advantage when Hansen ripped his 21st on a nice cross-ice feed from Sedin.

The Canucks then took their first lead of the night with 32.4 seconds left in the second when McCann raced in on a breakaway and beat Quick with a nice move after intercepting a weak pass from Kings captain Dustin Brown in the Vancouver zone on a sequence that also saw Los Angeles defenceman Brayden McNabb fall down.

The goal was the rookie’s ninth, but first in 10 games and second in the his last 36.

“We want something to build on,” said McCann. “We’re not going to mail the season in. We’re looking to play these last games really hard and carry it over.”

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