Rate it!

1 votes

Andrew Raycroft filled in as starting goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks and led them to a 2-1 shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

Raycroft, starting in place of the injured Roberto Luongo (ribs), made 30 saves and a vital a stop on the Kings' final shootout attempt from Ryan Smyth.

Mikael Samuelsson then scored to clinch the road win for the Canucks (7-6-0), who have won four of their last five games.

"It was a nice, greasy road win," Raycroft said.

"We did a great job killing penalties and keeping their top line off the scoresheet. I'll take (these) all year."

Scott Parse opened the scoring for Los Angeles at 11:27 in the first period before Samuelsson tied the score at 18:36.

Both sides failed to score in the second and third periods, along with the overtime session, forcing the shootout.

It was the second consecutive shootout loss for the Pacific Division-leading Kings (8-4-2), who fell in the same fashion to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.

"It's a useless part of the game. I hate it but the fans love it," said Los Angeles coach Terry Murray of the shootout format.

"They played a really slow game, it was a good plan. You outshot them 2-to-1, at the end of the day you feel like you should've won."

Parse's goal was the first of his career.

The Canucks were without eight injured players including Luongo, who was hurt in a win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Raycroft was signed by the Canucks in July after playing with the Colorado Avalanche a year ago and was making his first start of the year with his new team.

Reuters