Left winger Darcy Rota scored two goals in the second period and goaltender Richard Brodeur continued to stand on his head to help the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings and the Smythe Division championship title at Pacific Coliseum.
Vancouver, with a record of 7-1 in the team’s first appearance in the post-season, finished off the Kings four games to one.
The Canucks were up by 2-1 after the first period and Rota scored at 3:50 of the second to make it 3-1. Jim Nill, who had opened the scoring for the Canucks, picked up an errant clearing pass in the corner and passed it to Rota, who then beat goalie Mario Lessard with a backhander. Kings defenceman Larry Murphy made it 3-2 with 37 seconds remaining in the period, but Rota restored the two-goal cushion with 11 seconds remaining, stealing the puck deep in the Kings’ end and firing a sharp angle shot that beat Lessard on the short side for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Canucks winger Curt Fraser put the game out of reach at 1:25 of the final period, combining with Stan Smyl and Thomas Gradin to end the game 5-2.
The Canucks, who were 11-1-1 since Roger Neilson took over for suspended head coach Harry Neale, had lost a game only once — a 3-2 setback in overtime in Game 2 of the series against L.A. — in their last 17 games. They went on to face the Chicago Blackhawks for the Campbell Conference title en route to their first appearance in the Stanley Cup finals.
