VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ So much for the Nic of time. This turned into the Revenge of Drew.
A subplot of Saturday's game was Nic Dowd playing against the Los Angeles Kings for the first time, and it became a major story line when Dowd scored 41 seconds into the third period to give the Vancouver Canucks the lead.
The script changed quickly from there. Drew Doughty, embarrassed earlier when he got turned around on a goal by Nikolay Goldobin, moved into the slot and scored on his follow-up shot for the game-winning goal in a 4-3 Kings win Saturday at Rogers Arena.
It wasn't a textbook win for the Kings but a strong response _ on the road against a divisional rival _ and just their second regulation win since Dec.5.
Goldobin executed a highlight move around Doughty and lifted a backhand to make the score 2-2 with 2:29 left in the second period. Vancouver got a goal from another unexpected source, defenseman Troy Stecher, with his first score of the season in the first period But the Kings grabbed the game back twice, on goals by Tyler Toffoli and Marian Gaborik, and by Nick Shore to tie the score 3-3. Shore swept in a loose puck 2:22 into the third on a workman shift by his line.
Toffoli and Gaborik erased a 1-0 deficit in the first period. Toffoli finished a rebound created by Gaborik's drive to the net. Vancouver challenged for goalie interference on the play because Gaborik made contact with Jacob Markstrom, but the goal stood for Toffoli's 17th goal to tie Anze Kopitar for the team lead.
One minute later, Gaborik made the score 2-1 when he chipped in a pass from Trevor Lewis on a rush for a power-play goal. That shook the Kings out of a 1-for-17 slump with the man advantage.
One of the Canucks who tried to kill that power play was Dowd, traded for defenseman prospect Jordan Subban. Dowd spent eight-plus years with the organization and won a Calder Cup with their minor league team in 2015. He credited the franchise for his development as a seventh-round pick in 2009.
"I think, without those guys, and without getting my opportunity there, I definitely wouldn't be where I am today, and I wouldn't be the two-way player that I like to call myself," Dowd said.
Dowd has seen a bigger role and extra minutes with Vancouver that he couldn't get with the Kings, especially because the Canucks are without three injured forwards. There was a fun twist to Saturday, when he played against former St. Cloud State teammates Kevin Gravel and Jonny Brodzinski.
"I haven't played against 'Gravs' in like, 10 years," Dowd said before the game.
