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LOS ANGELES — The challenge for Kevin Lankinen to jump back into the National Hockey League goal crease and start after four days without practicing or playing was certainly less than whatever the Vancouver Canucks are dealing with at home this week.
With his frustrated team facing the second half of back-to-back road games Saturday night against the Los Angeles Kings, Lincoln returned from personal leave for family reasons and stopped 21 of the first 22 shots he faced before the game broke in overtime, giving him no chance against Adrian Kemp in the Kings’ 2-1 loss.
After just one morning skate with a handful of teammates, Lincoln played after a four-day layoff — and after minor-league call-up Nikita Tulopelo was in goal for the first two games of a road trip in which the Canucks are 1-1-1 heading into Tuesday’s finale against the dominant Colorado Avalanche.
Coach Adam Foote announced Lincoln’s return earlier Saturday, and general manager Patrick Alvin said he was confident the goalie would finish the trip with his teammates.
“I just want to say that I’m grateful to Adam and Patrick for offering me some time to be with my family when they need me the most,” Lincoln said. “So I’m really grateful for that.
“I felt good out there. And that’s what hockey is about – you have to be able to perform. And I’m happy to help the team. It’s too bad we couldn’t get the win.”
After playing a low-event road game and giving the Kings single-digit high-danger scoring chances, the Canucks lost two two-on-ones in overtime. Following another rush, Quinton Byfield fired his shot through the slot, but the puck went straight to Kemp, who was able to handle it and fire it into a semi-open net as Lincoln and teammates Elias Patterson and Kiefer Sherwood tried to get in front of the shot.
A game that started with three official reviews in the first five minutes also ended with one, as the NHL situation room in Toronto took a look at the winning goal before ruling that Byfield, who went to the crease after his miss, unfairly did not stop Lincoln.
“I tried to do my best out there,” Golley said. “I don’t really know … I’m not sure what happened there. I’m just trying to throw some (shots). But I’m sure the league did their homework (on the review) and I trust their judgment.”
Asked if it was difficult to focus on hockey after his personal leave, Lincoln said: “I trust my preparation. I trust the work I put in. I felt I could perform, so I was just happy to help the team. Too bad we couldn’t win.”
“Kevin was great,” Canucks defenseman Taylor Myers said. “It was good for him to get some extra time at home and, you know, for him to fly and step up like he did tonight … he’s been doing that for us since he’s been in Vancouver. We’ve always had confidence in him.”
“Obviously, you want to play hard for him, any time he’s going through something. And you know, he was great tonight. I thought the guys were going to fight really hard. We came up short on the second point, but there’s a lot to look forward to in terms of what we want to bring to the next games.”
Shots in regulation were just 22-19 for the Kings, and the Natural State Truck website had high-threat scoring opportunities for Los Angeles at just 8-6 in all situations.
“I thought we did pretty well tonight, especially the second and third periods,” Meyers said. “It felt like one of our best neutral zone games of the year, which I thought allowed us to not spend too much time in our own end. That’s how we have to play. It’s going to give us a better chance to win every night.”
“You know, when we look to cheat or float and hope the offense comes to us, that’s usually when we get into trouble defensively. So I thought our second and third tonight were really good. A lot to build on.”
Starting 27 hours after losing 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks in one of the worst-officiated games of the season, the last thing the Canucks needed — or at least their fan base needed — was more controversy.
Naturally, there were three comments in the first five minutes, one for each team that scored a goal off the board on successful coaches’ challenges for offside. A league-initiated review also confirmed that Patterson’s daring dash in front of the Kings net did not end in a goal 36 seconds into the game, as fuzzy video from an overhead camera showed that a sliver of the puck was still overlapping the back corner of the goal line as Kings goalie Anton Forsberg put his pad behind it.
At 17:19 of the first period, Los Angeles scored the first goal that counted when all five Canuck skaters surrounded Enz Kopter on a rush but allowed the retiring star to flick a quick shot across the ice that beat Lincoln on the glove side.
Evander Kane took a “nice” penalty 43 seconds into the middle period, not because it broke his scoring chance or set a physical tone, but because it allowed the most punishing Kane to pop out of the box behind the Kings and skate in on Drew O’Connor’s breakaway pass.
Kane quickly closed in on Forsberg and drilled a forehand past the retreating goalie to tie it 1-1 at 2:52.
After scoring just three goals in his first 23 games as a Canuck, Kane has two goals and an assist in his last three contests.
Lincoln later blocked a partial breakaway by Torvor Moore, and Canuck Brock Boeser saved a goal on the third-period penalty kill when he headed Kevin Fiala’s stick off the rebound off the post straight to King.
Vancouver dropped all four Los Angeles power plays, but the Canucks followed up an 0-for-8 performance in San Jose on the power play by going 0-for-3 against the Kings. Patterson, who physically challenged the Kings throughout the game, missed the Nets on some great opportunities.
ICE CHIPS – For the third time this season, first-line winger Connor Garland is out of the Canucks lineup due to injury. The play-driving dynamo missed three games in early November with a severe concussion after head contact, then played in a game at Florida on Nov. 17 that coach Adam Foote said was unrelated to the concussion. Garland remains on the trip but it is questionable whether he will play Tuesday in Denver. . . Autorati returned to the Vancouver lineup after a one-game reset and middled the third line between minor league call-ups Jonathan Lakermke and Drew O’Connor. Max Sasson dropped to the fourth line, along with Linus Karlsson and Arsdeep Baines, while Lucas Rachel went back to the press box after a game recovery. Defenseman Elias Patterson (Jr.) was pulled for the second time this season to allow Pierre-Olivier Joseph to make his first appearance since Nov. 14. . With Garland’s availability, Jack De Brusque started the game on the first line. Sherwood took Garland’s spot on the top power play. . . The Canucks have Sunday off in Los Angeles before practicing here on Monday and then flying to Colorado.
