Anze Kopitar scored in overtime on Saturday as the Los Angeles Kings rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 3-2 road victory over the Vancouver Canucks and a series tie in Western Conference quarter-final action.
Kopitar's shot was too hot for Roberto Luongo to handle, with the puck going off the goaltender's pad and then his stick before dribbling past the goal-line. The goal at 7:28 came on a power play that resulted after the Canucks had too many men on the ice.
"I know it's a cliché, but you put the puck to the net and good things will happen," Kopitar told Hockey Night in Canada. "It was a great power play for us, we were moving the puck around all night pretty good and to top it off with this is really nice to see."
The comeback denied Vancouver the chance to become the first NHL club to go up two games to start the first round of the playoffs.
All seven series that have featured two games are tied 1-1.
"There's not much difference between both teams, both teams are battling real hard," said Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault. "There's two points separating us in the regular season, both games went to overtime."
The Kings have scored four of their five goals in the series on the power play.
Los Angeles also drew even by holding Henrik and Daniel Sedin off the scoresheet in Game 2, with goalie Jonathan Quick finishing with 24 saves.
Defencemen Drew Doughty and Rob Scuderi were often on the ice against the Sedins.
"Premier line in the league, they probably are the best line in the league," Kings coach Terry Murray said of the Sedins. "We have to have great awareness, we tried very hard to get a matchup, we changed on the fly a few times to get the back end matched up.
"You're not going to totally eliminate those scoring chances, they're too good. But you've got to try and limit the number of quality chances and I thought tonight whenever they had their scoring chance, Quick was right there for us."
Steve Bernier and Mikael Samuelsson had the Canucks up by a pair at the halfway point of the first period at GM Place, with both goals assisted by Ryan Kesler.
Kesler blocked a shot in the sequence that led to Kopitar's overtime winner, limping off the ice.
But the Kings dominated the second, receiving goals from Fredrik Modin and Wayne Simmonds to tie the game.
The series will shift to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Monday on Hockey Night in Canada (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 10 p.m. ET).
Kopitar had the Canucks on their heels in the first minute, forcing Luongo into a save.
Vancouver then had to kill off a minor penalty incurred by Andrew Alberts, who was kicked out of Game 1 after a boarding infraction.
Jarret Stoll tested Luongo on the power play, but it would be Vancouver to score first.
Kyle Wellwood found Ryan Kesler with a cross-ice pass, and his blast put Quick out of position. Bernier had an empty net to backhand the rebound home at 7:33.
"We knew [Sean] O'Donnell broke his stick and [Brad] Richardson handed it off to him so we just wanted to work that guy without a stick and it worked," said Kesler.
Just seconds after Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown nearly tied the game, the Canucks went up by a pair.
Pavol Demitra fed Samuelsson in the neutral zone, and the Swede snapped a shot that beat the Kings goaltender on the short side just before the midway mark.
The Kings pressured furiously in the period's final minute, with Brown and Michal Handzus unable to convert their opportunities.
The Kings came out with urgency in the second and the Canucks had few answers.
Los Angeles had good puck possession on an early man-advantage, and finally got on the board at 10:58 on their fourth power play.
Luongo couldn't control the rebound of a low shot, and Modin potted his second in as many games in the ensuing scramble in the crease.
Before the fans at BC Place could fully digest that goal, the Kings had tied the score.
The Canucks got caught up ice on a strong chance and Kopitar played a 3-on-1 to perfection, drawing close to the net before slipping the puck to the right wing for Simmonds to put away.
"Simmonds played tremendous here tonight," said Murray. "He was twice the player that he was in Game 1, I felt."
Vancouver started to emerge from its funk late in frame. Defencemen Sami Salo and Alex Edler tested Quick from long range, with Daniel Sedin's wraparound attempt in the final minute just missing.
The Canucks continued in that vein to begin the third, but Samuelsson and Mason Raymond just missed the net on scoring chances.
Alberts took his third minor of the game and in a power play otherwise marked by the Kings pressuring the Canucks but unable to convert, Kesler forced Quick to make a pad save on a short-handed chance.
Alberts has racked up 23 penalty minutes in two games, potentially earning himself a spot in the press box in L.A.
"Obviously his penalties weren't very good, and we'll see what happens next game," said Vigneault.
Alexander Frolov barrelled down the right wing with six minutes left, but couldn't get a clean shot on Luongo.
The Sedin twins had a 2-on-1 with four minutes to go but Doughty knocked their pass astray.
Scuderi helped lead to Vancouver's downfall in overtime, sending the puck near the home team's bench to lead to the pivotal penalty.
"Pretty smart play," said Murray." That's a veteran player that's been through the playoffs. He recognized the situation."
Vigneault said it was the wrong call, arguing that the puck didn't strike the player coming onto the ice, but touched Kevin Bieksa within the allowable five-foot cushion from the bench as he was leaving the ice.