Frustration Mounts In Canucks’ 4–0 Loss To The Los Angeles Kings

Frustration was the clear winner in the Vancouver Canucks’ 4–0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings tonight. There were lots of frustrating elements to tonight’s game, from the Canucks logging only 19 shots on goal to awkward shift lengths such as Tom Willander getting caught on the ice for over three minutes. The lone solid performance on the night came from Kevin Lankinen, who stopped 34 of 37 shots faced.

A weakness of Vancouver’s early on tonight was their inability to clear the crease of traffic from the Kings. Los Angeles’ first two goals of the game came off of some extremely timely bounces — first off Scott Laughton’s leg and off the stick of Trevor Moore after that.

In his fifth consecutive start, a choice that has not come without questions, Lankinen played exactly the way he needed to in order to try and get his team a win. He faced 25 shots within the first half of the game, including 15 during just the first period, with the Kings getting up to 32 shots on goal by the 40-minute mark. With the loss tonight, Lankinen records his first regulation loss against the Kings since the beginning of his career with the Canucks.

“We need to play way better for him. We have not played good enough at all, especially for him. He tries to make every save possible,” Zeev Buium said post-game of the goaltender’s effort and how the team can help him out. “We need to do a way better job of getting guys out of the crease and just not letting them get there in the first place. I think we’re trying to do that. I think that’s just the biggest thing, is just playing a little bit harder. Not panicking, too. I think we get the puck sometimes and we just rim it or make a hard play. Sometimes we can collect it, talk to each other, communicate, and exit as a unit of five instead of just whacking it off the glass or something.”

The Canucks’ penalty kill was also a talking point in today’s game. On their first kill, Vancouver surrendered the goal-against from Laughton. During their next kill, they very nearly allowed another power play goal-against during a scrambled play in Lankinen’s crease, though the whistle went before the puck could cross the goal line.

The frustration bubbled over near the end of the game when a group of Canucks got into a tussle with some members of the Kings down in the corner of Los Angeles’ zone. Players like Willander and Linus Karlsson were caught in pushing-and-shoving matches, while Buium dropped the gloves with Kings defenceman Brandt Clarke. Buium spoke on the frustration level and how it factored into his scrap.

“You lose like that, especially on home ice, it’s never fun.You see your teammates getting kind of jumped a little bit … they’re up 4–0. I don’t think that necessarily needs to happen, but I’m glad that we all stuck up for each other.”

“It’s hard on everybody right now, and it’s not easy, but we have to learn from this,” Filip Hronek added. “No one else is going to help us. We have to keep grinding.”

Mar 26, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen (32) and defenseman Tom Willander (5) watch defenseman Marcus Pettersson (29) battle with Los Angeles Kings forward Quinton Byfield (55) in the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

Stats and Facts:

Vancouver surrenders a power play goal-against in their third consecutive game
Canucks finish the home stand with a record of 2–6–0
Zeev Buium records his first NHL fight

Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

17:34 – LAK: Scott Laughton (11) from Quinton Byfield and Trevor Moore (PPG)

2nd Period:

1:21 – LAK: Trevor Moore (10) from Mikey Anderson and Alex Laferriere

19:21 – LAK: Artemi Panarin (26) from Adrian Kempe

3rd Period:

17:36 – LAK: Quinton Byfield (18) from Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty (ENG)

Up Next:

With their home stand now wrapped-up, the Canucks will now set their sights on a four-game road trip. Their first stop will be a match against the Calgary Flames on Saturday at 7:00 pm PT, before they head south to take on the Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, and Minnesota Wild.

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