Dustin Penner scored with 3:14 remaining in the third period to help the Los Angeles Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2, in the opener of their Western Conference quarterfinal series Wednesday night in Canada.
Penner had gone the last nine games of the regular season without a goal. The winger capitalized after Mike Richards’ pass went off teammate Jeff Carter’s skate, and Penner whipped the puck past Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo.
Dustin Brown added an empty net goal in the final minute for the final margin. Richards and Willie Mitchell also scored for the Kings, who secured a playoff berth with three games to go in the regular season.
Alex Burrows and Alex Edler scored for the Canucks.
The Kings outshot the Canucks 39-26. Los Angeles converted two of eight power plays, while the Canucks were blanked on five.
Flyers 4, at Penguins 3: Jakub Voracek beat Marc-Andre Fleury from in close 2:23 into overtime to give Philadelphia, the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, a comeback victory at fourth-seeded Pittsburgh.
Fleury stopped Matt Read’s shot from the corner, but Voracek pounced on the rebound to cap a furious rally from a 3-0 deficit.
“It was a lucky bounce for me but I’ll take it,” Voracek said after scoring his first career playoff goal.
At Predators 3, Red Wings 2: Rookie Gabriel Bourque scored twice as fourth-seeded Nashville beat fifth-seeded Detroit in the Western Conference series opener.
“We know the next game’s going to be a lot harder than this one,” Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. “We’re OK with that.”
Tomas Holmstrom scored on a power play with 2:07 remaining in the third period for the Red Wings to cut their deficit to one goal. Detroit could not get the equalizer past goalie Pekka Rinne despite having a power play the final 23 seconds. Rinne finished with 35 saves.
Nashville’s Paul Gaustad scored the lone goal of the opening period, and Henrik Zetterberg scored a power-play goal early in the second period to tie it for Detroit.
SLAP SHOTS
Colorado Avalanche coach Joe Sacco received a two-year contract extension for a 20-point improvement over last season. … Commissioner Gary Bettman said the NHL continues talking with prospective buyers for the league-owned Phoenix Coyotes with no time line for selling the team. If the Coyotes don’t stay, a move to Seattle is possible. … Boston forward Nathan Horton, the No. 3 overall pick in 2003, will miss the playoffs because of concussion-related symptoms. He’s been out since Jan. 22, and missed the final four games against Vancouver in last year’s Stanley Cup finals because of a concussion.
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