Jonathan Quick shuts the door on the Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 of the playoffs

The Canucks' loss at the Staples Center gives the Kings a 3-0 lead in the first round of their Stanley Cup playoff series. Vancouver faces elimination in the Western Conference quarterfinal on Wednesday (April 18) in Los Angeles.

"You've got to give credit where credit is due," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said in his postgame news conference. "Obviously they're getting a great performance from their goaltender."

The Canucks outshot the Kings 25-11 through the first two periods. Early in the second frame, Kings captain Dustin Brown delivered a crushing check on Henrik Sedin near the Canucks bench.

Initially, there were fears that the Canucks captain might have suffered a concussion after his head appeared to hit the ice. But Sedin was back later in the period.

"I didn't like the position Hank was in," Vigneault commented. "Other than that, it was a good hit."

Brown scored the only goal—his fourth of the series—on a rebound at 6:30 of the third period. Canucks goalie Cory Schneider appeared to have no chance. He turned aside 19 other shots.

The Canucks have only scored four goals in the series, and none on the power play.

Vigneault claimed that the power play improved tonight, but acknowledged that he works in a results-based business.

The Canucks also took lots of penalties, including a crushing delay-of-game call against defenceman Alex Edler at 18:23. This came after he inadvertently shot the puck over the glass.

Only three teams in NHL history have come back from a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series.

"I said today that the most important thing was the game coming up," the coach said. "I don't see a bigger game coming up than the one on Wednesday."