VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Stephane Fiset made 35 saves to notch his fourth shutout of the season and second straight against Vancouver as the Los Angeles Kings extended their season-high winning streak to five games with a 3-0 victory over the Canucks on Saturday night.
Fiset stopped 12 shots in each of the first two periods and 11 in the third to record his 10th career shutout. He turned away 18 shots in blanking Vancouver 4-0 Feb 22.
"Everybody played a great game tonight," Fiset said. "That makes my job easier. I saw every shot and they (the Canucks) were cleared away from me. Every time I gave up a rebound the defensemen were there to take it. The forwards were also doing a good job. They were coming back for the third and fourth man. I think the team is in the zone."
"We got a lot of shots on goal but Fiset was hot and he made the difference tonight," Vancouver winger Martin Gelinas said.
Ray Ferraro, Brad Smyth and Jeff Shevalier scored for the Kings, who have won five consecutive games for the first time since winning eight straight from Feb. 23 to March 9, 1992. Los Angeles also stopped a 12-game winless streak at Vancouver (0-11-1), winning there for the first time since April 12, 1992.
"We've played well of late," said Ferraro. "It was good for us to get a good start. We knew Vancouver likes to start fast. They've struggled as of late. When you fall behind and you're struggling, you never get any bounces."
The Canucks, who have lost four of their last five games, had a goal disallowed at 10:03 of the third period when Los Angeles defenseman Aki Berg tried to chip out a rebound. Gino Odjick kicked the puck toward the net and it bounced off Kings winger Dan Bylsma's stick and through Fiset's legs.
Ferraro scored his 20th goal of the season on a power-play exactly 12 minutes into the first period off a give-and-go with Ed Olczyk. Ferraro, who recorded his 10th career 20-goal season, shot the puck from a foot above the left crease over Kirk McLean's glove.
The Kings went into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead after Smyth scored his eighth of the season on a wraparound at 17:30. Jan Vopat took a shot from the deep slot on the right side but it went wide behind the net. Smyth jumped on the puck and, while still behind the net, poked it in off McLean's pad.
Shevalier closed out the scoring 84 seconds into the second with his fourth goal of the season. He stripped Russ Courtnall at the blue line, circled over to just inside the left faceoff circle and flipped a shot that beat McLean to the glove side.
McLean finished with 19 saves and fell to 16-16-1 for the Canucks, who have lost three straight to Los Angeles.
"Well it was loss," said Vancouver center and captain Trevor Linden. "Call it inconsistency, call it whatever you want. We tried, worked hard, gave an effort but just couldn't beat Fiset. Last game we played a tired Phoenix team, caught a few breaks, and got on a roll but tonight we played a team that had won four in a row, played well defensively and that was the difference."
The start of the game was delayed for 25 minutes as paramedics
tended to a fan in the front row who suffered a heart attack.
The fan was revived at Vancouver General Hospital.
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Mattias Norstrom
2. Jeff Shevalier
3. Stephane Fiset
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