When the puck dropped at Honda Center on Friday afternoon it marked a little bit of history, as it was the 168th time the Kings and Ducks were facing off. No other franchise has played Anaheim more than Los Angeles. And throughout their history together, the games have often been close. While this contest lived up to that reputation, there was something even more important on the line.
For the first time in about a decade, the stakes were significant. First place in the Pacific Division was on the line, with the pair of SoCal hockey clubs separated by just a single point in the standings when the day began.
Once the action got underway, LA held leads of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, and eventually 4-2. Their final two goals of regulation came in the early part of period three and gave the Kings a comfortable two-goal lead though 50 minutes. As coaches say all the time, ‘you need to play a full 60 minutes.’
Just past the midpoint of period three, Anaheim’s youngsters went to work. Pavel Mintyukov cut LA’s lead to just a single goal. Then, Leo Carlsson tied it with under two minutes remaining. Nothing changed in overtime, so it was off to the shootout to decide things. Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe were both denied in the skills competition, while Troy Terry and Mason McTavish scored to securing a victory for the Ducks.
Key Takeaways:
— With the win, Anaheim moved two points ahead of Jim Hiller’s club in the standings.
— In a rather remarkable turn of events, the Kings ended up winning 52.7% of the faceoffs on the afternoon, taking 29-of-55 total draws. This came after only winning about 35% through the first 20 minutes.
— Alex Turcotte’s first goal of the season was LA’s third marker of the day. It was setup off a beautiful pass from Brandt Clarke. That was the 22-year-old defenseman’s second helper of the day. He now leads all Kings blueliners with 12 assists.
— Kevin Fiala scored earlier in the game. That gave him his 10th goal of the season; the first Kings player to reach double digits in goals this year. Additionally, he now has 28 points (20G, 8A) in 30 career games against the Ducks. Most recently, he has 13 points (10G, 3A) in his 11 games played against Anaheim since joining the Kings.
Full game highlights can be viewed here:
Pregame notes and lineups can be found in the article linked below.
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