The Los Angeles Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in a shootout to win both of the NHL鈥檚 first preseason games in China.

Saturday鈥檚 game in Beijing caps a push by the National Hockey League to popularize the sport in China ahead of the country鈥檚 hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Game MVP Jake Muzzin opened the scoring for the Kings in the first period.

Vancouver tied the score 3-3 in the third period with a goal from Chris Tanev but after a scoreless overtime, Jonny Brodzinski sealed the win for the Kings.

tie the game late in the 3rd, but can't complete the comeback against the Kings in Beijing in this Game In Two.

鈥� Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks)

Organizers put attendance at almost 13,000, including many drawn from the Chinese capital鈥檚 expatriate population.

Kings coach John Stevens said time would tell if the games succeeded in boosting hockey鈥檚 profile in the country of almost 1.3 billion people, where table tennis, badminton, football and basketball are already hugely popular. But Stevens said the experience benefited both sides.

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鈥淚 think in order to grow the game, you鈥檝e got to start by exposing the game, and it鈥檚 my hope that we made big inroads in doing that,鈥� Stevens said.

Canucks coach Travis Green said the league was firmly focused on China鈥檚 youth.

鈥淚 hope that we鈥檝e made an impact,鈥� he said.

Muzzin was among the many who said they鈥檇 been blown away by a visit to the Great Wall of China. The overall experience seemed to have a positive effect on his performance, which Muzzin said had 鈥渇lourished these couple of games here.鈥�

The Kings won the first game in Shanghai on Thursday 5-2.

The Associated Press

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