Key play: Emerson Etem scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and the Vancouver Canucks held on for a 3-2 victory Friday over the Ducks at the Honda Center. Etem, a former Ducks right wing and a Long Beach native, scored for only the fourth time in 54 games this season.

Playoff update: The Ducks (43-24-10, 96 points) squandered a chance to leapfrog the Kings and take over first place in the Pacific Division. The Kings (46-26-5, 97 points) face the Dallas Stars today at Staples Center, with a chance to pad their lead.

Quote, unquote: “It’s a game we should have won,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We should have had two points. You need 20 guys playing and we didn’t have 20 going. … We definitely didn’t play a 60-minute game. We haven’t played a 60-minute game in a while.”

Milestone approaching: Ducks left wing Andrew Cogliano played in his 699th consecutive, the longest active streak in the NHL and the sixth-longest in league history. He’s expected to play in his 700th straight game Sunday, when the Ducks play host to the Stars.

Injury updates: The Canucks began the game with only 11 healthy forwards, shifting defenseman Andrey Pedan to left wing. Then they lost left wing Chris Higgins to a lower-body injury and right wing Linden Vey to an upper-body injury, dropping the number to nine.