The Los Angeles Kings traveled up the coast to Vancouver to play the last-place Canucks on Thursday. The 5th-place Kings were on a 4-game skid heading into the matchup and looking to gain momentum in the wild card race.
The scoring opened with two and a half minutes left in the first period when forward Quenton Byfield took a power play shot that ricocheted into the net off the skate of center Scott Laughton.
L.A. scored on another ricochet less than two minutes into the second period, when defenseman Mikey Anderson took a shot towards the goal that was tipped into the net by the stick of left winger Trevor Moore. This gave the Kings a 2-0 lead.
In the last minute of the second period, Kings star left winger Artemi Panarin scored to make the score 3-0. By the end of the second period, the Kings had outshot the Canucks 32-12.
The third period remained scoreless until the final three minutes of regulation, when Byfield found an empty net to seal a 4-0 victory for the Kings.
35-year-old goalie Darcy Kuemper was the star of the game, stopping all 19 shots he faced for his 39th career shutout. Despite stopping an impressive 34 shots, Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen recorded the loss. The Canucks have now been shut out six times this season, five of them coming on their home ice.