Kings 5, Canucks 3 - Welcome Back Boys!

I think I was more nervous for this game then I was on my wedding day.  I knew on that beautiful day that I would end up getting married, but today I had no clue what the outcome would be or how the Kings would play, and, worst of all, I could not do a single thing to determine the result.  It also didn't help that the Kings lost every single '09-'10 regular season game I attended so I was worried that my bad luck was going to continue.
The Good

• I was able to sneak out of work at 4:45pm and made it to LA Live just after 5pm.  Crowds were already forming and Luc Robitaille was outside talking about something:

LA Live, Luc and north side of Staples Center

• The energy was amazing inside Staples Center!  

The playoff towels should have been black

• Ryan Smyth finally scored!!  About time!  And Wayne Simmonds continued to throw his body around and play well on the top line.
• Even when the Canucks scored the crowd immediately bounced back to support the Kings.  It was great hearing the fans cheer on the boys at every point in the game.

The Bad Ass

• The Kings power play was like fucking clockwork tonight and the penalty kill was fantastic, even when Handzus was in the box.
• Jack Johnson had 3 assists, Drew Doughty had 1 goal and 2 assists and Michal Handzus had 2 goals
• In my last post I said that Brad Richardson deserved a goal more than anyone else, but wouldn't ever score in the playoffs.....well, he proved me wrong tonight.  Well done on his part.  It was an ugly goal, but he threw the puck at the net and "good things happened" and then even better things happened when Luongo left the game.

The Ugly

• C'mon LA, let's not boo the Canadian National Anthem....not classy.  
• Goal reviews, especially those questioning pucks being "kicked in", suck especially when you're at the game and can't see any replays.  It's annoying having to read everyone's opinion about why the goal should have stood or why the Toronto war room made the right call; apparently everybody is an expert!  At what point do the GMs seriously discuss making a rule change?  I'm not complaining about the call, definitely glad it didn't count!  I'm just saying this controversy has been around for awhile...
• Mikael Samuelsson netted his 4th goal of the playoffs.  
• Ryan "who's your favorite player" Kesler was an absolute beast in the faceoff circle, finishing the game with a 71.9% success rate.  It's embarrassing how poorly the Kings performed against him.

The Kings still need to prove that they can be better than the Canucks at even strength.  Thankfully the special teams have been on fire because otherwise the Kings would be toast.  Jack Johnson is really stepping it up in the playoffs.  Peter Harrold didn't look very good, so I wonder if Murray will give Randy Jones another chance.  I really liked the Modin-Handzus-Richardson line and I still can't get over how hard Richardson is working; it's like he thinks he'll be benched at any minute so he has to put everything on the line.  Game 4 won't be any easier as I fully expect Luongo to bounce back.  Oh jeez, Game 3 just ended and I'm already nervous for Game 4! Go Kings!!!