Canucks piling up the shots

The Kings outshot their opponents in each of their final 13 regular-season games, and often by wide margins. The Kings also outshot the Vancouver Canucks 39-26 in Game 1 of this first-round playoff series. Since then, though, the Canucks have outshot the Kings by wide margins in Game 2 (48-26) and Game 3 (41-20). That’s a lot of work for Jonathan Quick, who has been equal to the task, but the Kings also aren’t totally uncomfortable with high shots-against totals, as long as they’re coming from the proper areas. Since his arrival, Darryl Sutter has emphasized his desire for Kings defensemen to push the opposition to the outside. If opponents are going to get shots, Sutter wants to see them come from the edges, not the middle of the ice. Every coach desires this, to some level, but Sutter has particularly stressed it with this group. That’s the theme Sutter fell back to following Game 3, when asked about being outshot.

SUTTER: “As long as you’re trying to keep shots to the outside, then I don’t really care. It’s about the percentage (chance) of finishing it.’’

Question: Have you kept it to the outside enough?

SUTTER: “We’re trying. We’re not at their level offensively, so we have to take advantage of opportunities that we get, and have to obviously try and do a better job against their top players.’’