seconds apart late in the third period Thursday as the Los

MINNEAPOLIS -- Kendrys Morales is on his way back to Seattle to try and give the Mariners struggling offence a boost as they chase a playoff spot. The Minnesota Twins traded Morales to the Mariners on Thursday for minor-league pitcher Stephen Pryor. Morales hit 23 home runs and drove in 80 runs for the Mariners last season, but turned down a $14.1 million qualifying offer from Seattle to become a free agent. "Hes a professional hitter," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He gives us the opportunity to stretch out our lineup, so to speak. Hes a nice fit, switch-hitter, hitting behind Robbie (Cano). "He gives us options, what we want to do with (Kyle) Seager, where we want to hit him," McClendon said. "I like it." Morales sat out the first two months of the season while searching for a new deal, signing a pro-rated $12 million contract with the Twins on June 8. But he hit .234 with 11 doubles, one homer and 18 RBIs in 39 games with the Twins, who have faded from contention in the AL Central. The Mariners, who started the day with a half-game lead for the second wild-card spot in the AL, are hoping a return to Safeco Field could help Morales rediscover his swing. Seattle has the best ERA in the majors, but the Mariners offence is 14th in the American League in runs scored. Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said missing spring training and the first two months of the season has had an impact on Morales slow start. He believes hes close to his hitting stride. "I dont think there is any question about that," Zduriencik said. "I thought it was interesting that he went right to the big leagues but that plays a part in the negotiations. "Nevertheless, when you look at where hes at right now, we know what Kendrys is, we know his career as a hitter, we know what he did here and now that hes in a pennant race and technically has spring training under his belt -- he did it at the major league level -- I think we all feel that Kendrys is going to hit his stride and be the Kendrys Morales we all know," he added. Morales was signed by the Twins to be the everyday designated hitter, but he played a lot of first base while filling in for the injured Joe Mauer. "I think he was a good teammate. I think he was a good influence on some of the players in this clubhouse. He got off to a surprisingly quick start and then cooled off, of course," Twins GM Terry Ryan said. "We gave it a shot. Obviously, our club hasnt responded." In the first sign that the Twins are starting to look at selling some of their veteran pieces to retool for next season, they acquired the 25-year-old Pryor in the exchange. Pryor has appeared in 34 games for the Mariners since 2012, posting a 2.81 ERA. He will report to Triple-A Rochester. Pryor, who once regularly had his pitches clocked at 100 mph, started this season on the disabled list after having surgery to repair a torn right latissimus dorsi muscle. He made one appearance for the Mariners this season. He was 2-2 record with a 5.71 ERA in 34 2-3 innings for Triple-A Tacoma this season. The Twins also recalled infielder Jorge Polanco from Class A Fort Myers. Zach Randolph Jersey . Watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. Serge Ibaka returned to the Thunder lineup from a calf injury that was supposed to sideline him for the remainder of the postseason and the results were sparkling. 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Even with the salary cap being set lower than many general managers expected and hoped for at $69 million and whats considered a shallow pool of top-end players available, this unrestricted-free-agent period figures to follow the familiar script of teams bidding up prices to keep up with each other.VANCOUVER - Ryan Miller sat alone at his locker-room stall for a long time, pondering two lost points for the Vancouver Canucks.Justin Williams and Jarret Stoll scored 53 seconds apart late in the third period Thursday as the Los Angeles Kings roared back from a 2-0 deficit midway through the game to stun the Canucks 3-2.The goals came on the Kings 39th and 40th shots of the night as Los Angeles took advantage of a sluggish Canucks team that was coming off a big 3-1 road victory over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.One of the more disappointing games in a while, said a downtrodden Miller. Just blew it at the end.Its frustrating to get to 57 minutes or so and blow it.Williams tied the game on the power play with 2:07 left in regulation with his ninth of the season and first in eight games on a great shot over Millers shoulder before Stoll buried the winner — his fourth of the campaign and first in 13 — with 1:14 to go.We gritted it out and sometimes at the end of the game you look and say All right, that was justice because I feel we dominated the game, said Williams. We had the better opportunities and we were able to show some resiliency, some resolve and not give up.Dwight King had the other goal for Los Angeles (19-12-8), which got 14 saves from Jonathan Quick.Losings disappointing, but we didnt play the way we wanted to. Thats more disappointing, said Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins, whose team was outshot 40-16. I think if you play the way you want to and you lose ... that happens sometimes. We didnt play the way we needed to play.Radim Vrbata, with a goal and an assist, and Alexandre Burrows scored for Vancouver (21-12-3), which was only in the game thanks to some key saves from Miller in a 37-save performance.We stopped playing. Being up 2-0, I dont know if we felt comfortable or what it was but it wasnt good enough, said Canucks captain Henrik Sedin. You cant expect to win when you get outshot 40 to something. Its not good enough. We know that.The Canucks have been outshot 103-51 in their last three, including that win in San Jose and a 2-1 overtime loss in Anaheim against the Ducks. Theres going to be stretches like that, Miller said of the lopsided shot margin. Well clean it up. Well get better. Its not always neat, tidy and clean during the season. Youre going to have disappointments. Unfortunately tonight we couldnt at least get a point out of it. Thats pretty frustrating.The Canucks carried a 2-1 lead into the third despite being outshot 30-10 through two periods, and Miller had to be sharp again five minutes into the final period on a shot off the stick of Stoll on a 3-on-2 rush.It looked like Vancouver was going to hold and get off to a winning start in 2015 before Williams and Stoll scored in quick succession to turn the game on its head as the Kings improved to 5-8-6 on the road and leapfrogged the Canucks in the Pacific Diivision standings.ddddddddddddIt was nice to get the two points and not give them any, said Stoll. Good road game by everybody and hopefully we can use this as a little springboard for road games and get our road record going. It feels good.The Canucks penalty killing unit had been lights out in recent weeks before defenceman Ryan Stanton took a hooking penalty with under four minutes to go that led to Williams goal.Its definitely tough. I dont think we had our best effort tonight, but to let it slip away at the end there definitely hurts, said Stanton. I dont think we moved our feet much tonight. Its quite the difference from the San Jose game the other night.Vancouver was up 1-0 after the first and doubled that lead at 3:39 of the second when Vrbata buried his 15th of the season and second in as many games over Quicks blocker on one of the Canucks two shots in the period.Los Angeles would direct 14 pucks on Miller in the middle period and finally got on the board when King chipped home his own rebound at 14:39 for his fifth goal of the season.Earlier in the period, the Kings hit their second post of the night when Anze Kopitar found iron on a Los Angeles power play.We got out to a lead but we sat back all game. I think they pretty much had control of that game for the most part, said Canucks forward Brad Richardson. In the end you still should have that win — pretty disappointing.In those games youve got to find a way to get a point. Thats what teams do. Thats a huge point, two we should have had and we lost them both.Vancouver was just 2-9-3 against California teams last season — one of the big reasons the club missed the playoffs for the first time in six years — and are 3-2-2 this campaign through eight games.Im sure theyre frustrated because they had a 2-0 lead, said Kings head coach Darryl Sutter. But thats how the division is.Its so close. It comes down to a big play, a bad goal or something almost every night.The Canucks opened the scoring at 12:18 of the first period on the power play when Burrows poked a loose puck past Quick for his ninth of the season.Prior to that breakthrough there were a number of chances at both ends of the ice, with Tanner Pearson ringing a shot off the post behind Miller for Los Angeles less than two minutes in before Quick stoned Richardson moments later.Theyre a good hockey team. They played hard, said Desjardins. For whatever reason we didnt have our jump. Youve got to think if its one guy then maybe its a guy, but I think it was the team. Maybe we didnt prepare quite right but we werent good as a team.Notes: Los Angeles downed Vancouver 5-1 on Nov. 8 at Staples Center. The teams meet three more times this season. ... The Canucks continue their five-game homestand Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings, while the Kings open a season-high seven-game homestand against the Nashville Predators. ' ' '