Back where it all started…

It’s tough to believe that the end of the road — literally — is almost here. This is road game No. 39, and all that remains in the regular season is a quick one-game trip to San Jose and a drive to Anaheim, and then we’ll see what happens after that. It’s further notable because the journey started here in Vancouver on Oct. 9, and it’s tough to believe how quickly six months can pass. That game, the season opener, was a close, tight-checking game that the Kings won 2-1 in a shootout. The teams met again less than a week later at Staples Center and the Kings pulled off a 4-1 win. After that, the teams went almost five months without seeing each other, and when they did — on March 5 at Staples Center — the Canucks essentially played a 60-minute game of keep-away and dominated in a 3-1 victory over the Kings. As noted yesterday, the Canucks are hot, having outscored opponents 12-4 on a recent four-game road-trip sweep, so Terry Murray knows the challenge will not be easy.

MURRAY: “Absolutely. Vancouver is the number-one team in the NHL. It will be a hard test for us. There’s no question, they’re a team that can play the game in many different ways and win in many different ways. We have to be concerned about our own game, play the right way, and you give yourself the opportunity to win a game by doing things right for the 60 minutes.”

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