Hat-trick of Brown helped Kings smash Canucks

Dustin Brown, frustrated by Roberto Luongo in the Olympic gold-medal game between the U.S. and Canada just over a month ago, got a small measure of revenge Thursday.

Brown recorded the second hat trick of his career and added an assist for a career-best four points as the Kings routed a shaky Luongo and the ineffective Canucks, 8-3, before an appreciative crowd at Staples Center. Jack Johnson, Brown's teammate on the U.S. Olympic squad, also had a strong game with two crucial assists.

Captain Dustin Brown had three goals and an assist, and the Los Angeles Kings roared to an early five-goal lead while inching closer to their first playoff berth since 2002 with an 8-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

                                                                    

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With seven goals on their first 23 shots against befuddled Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo, the Kings burst from an offensive slump with their highest-scoring performance of the season.

Alex Frolov, Anze Kopitar and Jarret Stoll each had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who have won two straight following a four-game winless skid and further secured their playoff positioning in the West. With 94 points, the Kings sit in seventh place, five points ahead of Colorado, with five games remaining.

With less than two minutes to go in the first, Brown scored the first of his three goals. Johnson corralled the puck at the right point after a faceoff, faked around a defender and skated along the near half-wall before he slipped a backhand pass into the right side of the slot for a successful one-timer by Brown.

Los Angeles led 5-0 midway through the second period before Kyle Wellwood and Ryan Kesler scored in a 39-second span against 21-year-old Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier, who got his second straight start after shutting out Nashville on Tuesday. Bernier made 27 saves after allowing just one goal in his first two appearances this season.

The Kings stuck with Bernier over Jonathan Quick, who already set a franchise record with 39 wins while starting 68 of their first 75 games. Los Angeles coach Terry Murray says Quick still is his starting goalie.