Ducks Record vs. Los Angeles Kings: 4-0-1
December 3, '13: Ducks 2 vs Kings 3 (SO)
Original Game Story – Jewels From The Crown (Kings Blog) Recap ***See Below***
It was rather appropriate that on the day both clubs unveiled their uniforms for the Stadium Series at Dodger Stadium, they would need a nine round shootout to determine the winner. Coming into the game the Ducks had dropped only one point at home (via an OT loss to New Jersey), and had fallen in a shootout two days prior in San Jose. With Jonathan Quick out injured Martin Jones made his NHL debut between the pipes for Kings, as this game would become the fifth extra time affair in a seven game stretch for the Angelenos. LA had dropped back to back OT decisions at home to New Jersey and Colorado, won in OT at Vancouver, and lost in a shootout to the Sharks in the span.
The game was what has become par for the course between the two teams, with the Kings largely out-shooting and out-attempting Anaheim, only to have Jonas Hiller stymie them for 49 saves in the 65 minutes of play. Jeff Carter and Ryan Getzlaf were the top trigger men for the game, each firing seven shots on net and scoring the first goals for their respective sides a mere 46 seconds apart in the second period. Corey Perry converted the only power play goal of the game early in the third on the fourth of six Ducks extra-skater opportunities, while the Kings failed on all five of their extra-man attempts. Just as the Ducks captain had leveled the game in the second, so did Dustin Brown just under six minutes in which would eventually force overtime then a shootout, won by a Dwight King goal and denial of Mathieu Perreault.
Los Angeles had roared to a 16-6 shot advantage after the first, and would only be equalled in attempts on target in the third. The Ducks defense corps blocked 28 shots, and the forwards had six of the teams game-high eight takeaways. It would also be the only appearance against the SoCal rivals for Sami Vatanen, as in later meetings coach Bruce Boudreau would elect for a larger, more physical defense lineup. The result sparked both sides as the Kings won their following four games, while the Ducks would take their next ten decisions with four coming against eventual playoff teams.
January 23, '14: Ducks 2 vs Kings 1
Original Game Story – Jewels From The Crown Recap
In a preview of the Stadium Series showdown, heavy hockey was the order of the evening for Anaheim in an attempt to suppress the Kings shot advantage. Lead by a game-high eight hits from Mark Fistric, Matt Beleskey and Ben Lovejoy followed suit with six hits, while Andrew Cogliano, Getzlaf, and Dustin Penner were each credited with five collisions as the Ducks took the body to the tune of a final 48-24 hit advantage. All the contact was needed to contain an LA offense that again bolted from the gate in the first with a 13-4 shot advantage and took the lead 3:13 in on an Anze Kopitar tally. Despite the early attempting edge things would even out in the final 40 minutes as Los Angeles fired an additional 18 and the Ducks shoot 17.
With Hiller slated to get the start at Dodger Stadium, Frederik Andersen made his Freeway Faceoff debut and had a strong outing opposite Jonathan Quick. Penner would tie the game just past the midway mark of the second period before Patrick Maroon’s wraparound put the Ducks ahead just over two minutes before intermission. Anaheim killed a pair of penalties in the final frame and held firm to square the season series, in the process crediting Maroon with his first career game-winning goal and picking up the fourth in what would end up being a five game personal winning streak for Andersen. It was a much needed result for the Ducks, who had dropped their previous three including the first regulation defeat at Honda Center to the Jets coming into the evening.
January 25, '14: Ducks 3 at Kings 0 [Stadium Series]
Original Game Story – Jewels From The Crown Recap
With the eyes of the hockey world wondering just how well a hockey game could be played on an outdoor ice sheet on the west coast at one of baseball's cathedrals, Perry would provide an instant boost as eye-catching as the Ducks orange uniforms scoring mere minutes in and Anaheim never looked back. Despite the Kings once again outshooting the Ducks to an almost comical degree in the opening 20, Beleskey doubled the advantage at 8:12 to make the 20-7 shot counter advantage for the home team rather worthless. Hiller certainly had much to do with that as well, stopping several chances in close though the majority of shots were held to the perimeter of the zone. After the initial shooting spasm things once again evened out over the final two periods with LA taking 16 shots to Anaheim's 14 the rest of the way.
Tim Jackman showed his tough guy bona fides early in the second, obliging Kyle Clifford in a scrap that did little to build momentum for the Kings as Slava Voynov took a delay of game penalty less than a minute later. In all, Los Angeles struggled to build a consistent attack in the middle frame thanks to taking two additional penalties later in the period. The last call against Drew Doughty would provide a comedic moment on the NHL’s “Revealed” special, heckling Maroon whom he was sent off for tripping. The Kings would get an opportunity early in the third when Quick reacted poorly to Kyle Palmieri being skated into him by a defenseman, taking the Ducks forward to boards in the near corner after the whistle as Palmieri was sent off for goalie interference. Still, the only harm the Kings would manage in the third was to a moth that Quick banged his stick on as it had landed and frozen to the playing surface. Cogliano capped the evening with an empty-netter, Hiller turned aside the Kings ten final period shots and 36 in the game to earn the shutout, and fireworks lit off as the game ended with Blue Heaven turning orange for an evening.
March 15, ’14: Ducks 2 at Kings 1
Original Game Story – Jewels From The Crown Recap
With the Ducks having hit the skids following the Stadium Series game, going 2-4-0 heading into the Olympic break and suffering somewhat of a Sochi hangover with a 3-4-0 stretch immediately thereafter, the trip to STAPLES Center represented a chance to pick up additional ground in the division. Despite losing to Toronto in their previous game the Kings had won seven straight out of the Olympic break, averaging over three goals a game during the unbeaten run after having struggled putting the puck in the net prior. Both squads elected to start their rookies in net, with Jones looking to match his debut performance and Andersen looking to do what a Duck goalie hadn’t done since Dan Ellis in the ’10-’11 regular season finale- win in Los Angeles.
Once again the Ducks defense was called upon to ‘protect the house’ to the tune of 17 shot blocks, lead by four from Daniel Winnik and three from Francois Beauchemin. Anaheim also did themselves no favors with 16 giveaways in the game as the Kings again enjoyed a wide shot disparity, outshooting the Ducks by six in the first period and eight in the second. However it was Jackman who opened the scoring, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead after the first. LA drew level just past the midway mark of the game on a Tyler Toffoli power play goal, which would end up being the only PPG the Kings converted against Anaheim on 20 attempts. Less than a minute later Maroon scored on a deflection off Jake Muzzin, and Andersen made 37 saves on the game to make it stand up as his second game-winner against the Kings this season.
April 12, ’14: Ducks 4 at Kings 3 (SO)
Original Game Story – Jewels From The Crown Recap
With little on the line save for the opportunity for Anaheim to clinch the Western Conference’s top overall seed outright with a win, the Ducks having sewn up the Pacific Division with a win over the Sharks and the Kings locked in as a three seed, Boudreau used it as an opportunity to introduce Rickard Rakell and Devante Smith-Pelly to the rivalry. Though LA jumped ahead under five minutes into action on a goal by Brown, the Ducks as had been their wont tied it up in short order as Nick Bonino burried a backhand less then two minutes later. For all their dominance in shooting, the Kings ultimately held a lead for only 25:13 over the course of the five games against Anaheim.
Smith-Pelly scored the lone goal in the second, and a pair of Kopitar markers sandwiched a Beleskey tally in the third to send the game to overtime. In the five minutes of added time the Ducks out-shot the Kings 6-2, marking only the second session all season where they had more on target attempts than the Angelenos (the only full period Anaheim ended with more shots was the second of the second meeting) as the counter read a 30-24 LA advantage for the game. The Ducks again blocked more shots as Lovejoy, Getzlaf, Stephane Robidas, and Bryan Allen all got in the way of three apiece of the team’s 20 for the game. After having beaten Quick in Anaheim, Andersen out-dueled him in the shootout, denying all four Kings and allowing Smith-Pelly to play the hero in locking up the Ducks first season series without a regulation loss to their rivals since 1998-’99.
***Fair Warning***
While JFTC isn’t on the level of other Kings blogs as far as constant insistence on un-clever Ducks trolling, there’s a fair share of it. Their coverage has good advanced stats-wonky stuff, but be aware you’ll have to put up with a good deal of lame shots taken at Anaheim too.