The Vancouver Canucks won for the sixth time in seven games Thursday night, increasing their lead atop the Northwest Division to three points over the Minnesota Wild.

Daniel Sedin had two goals and one assist as the visiting Canucks skated to a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings before a crowd of 17,916 at the Staples Center.

Willie Mitchell (8) fends off Mike Cammalleri in Thursday's 4-2 win.
(Jeff Lewis/Associated Press)

The Wild, meanwhile, fell 4-2 to the Calgary Flames.

Taylor Pyatt had a goal and an assist and Bryan Smolinski also tallied for the playoff-bound Canucks (47-23-7), who surpassed the franchise record with win No. 47. 

"It wasn't our best game,," Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault said. "But we found a way to win.

"Our power play got us two goals and two points. That was the difference tonight."

Henrik Sedin had three assists and Roberto Luongo turned aside 32 of 34 shots, including 12 in each of the first two periods.

It was Luongo's 45th win this season, tops in the NHL and two shy of Bernie Parent's league record set in 1973-74.

"They put a lot of pressure on us," Luongo said. "I thought that they fought hard."

"They allow a lot of shots, so they must rely on his saves," Kings forward Anze Kopitar said. "He is the best goalie … in the league."
 
Dustin Brown had a goal and an assist and Kopitar rounded out scoring as the Kings (26-38-14) suffered a third straight loss.

Mike Cammalleri had two assists in support of Sean Burke, who totalled 18 saves.

Vancouver opened the scoring 8:36 into the contest, when Pyatt fed Smolinski in the slot for his 17th goal of the season with Jaroslav Modry serving a hooking penalty.

Los Angeles tied it 1-1 less than five minutes later when Brown deflected Jamie Heward's point shot past Luongo for his 16th.

Daniel Sedin broke the deadlock by swatting the puck out of midair with a power-play goal 6:44 into the second period.

Sedin later centred to Pyatt, who tallied his 21st on a backhand shot to put the Canucks up 3-1 with 6:56 left in the period.

Kopitar replied for the Kings, converting Brown's centring pass for his 19th at 6:23 of the third period.

But Sedin completed the scoring with his second goal of the game and 35th overall, an empty-netter with 11 seconds remaining.

Jack Johnson given jolt

Defenceman Jack Johnson, drafted third overall in 2005, made his NHL debut for Los Angeles, which inked the 20-year-old to an incentive-laden, entry-level contract on Tuesday.

Johnson was flipped head over heels early in the second period, courtesy a clean hip check by Jan Bulis.

Scott Thornton of the Kings chased down Bulis and was assessed a roughing penalty, which resulted in Sedin's power-play goal.

"It was a good hit," Johnson said. "I figured something like that would happen sooner or later.

"It's good that I got that first one out of the way. In college, it's easier to get around a player like that."

Earlier Thursday, Vancouver confirmed that defenceman Sami Salo signed a four-year contract extension through the 2010-11 NHL season.

With files from Sports Network