Ducks @ Kings RECAP: Ducks Relinquish Lead Late in Regulation, But Defeat Kings in Shootout 5-4
The Anaheim Ducks (11-8-3, 25 points) made their way north up I-5 on Tuesday evening to Staples Center for the first of four Freeway Face-Off matchups this season against the Los Angeles Kings (9-8-3, 21 points). The Ducks entered the game having lost 4 of their last 5 contests, most recently falling to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday evening, 5-1. After seeing a 3-goal 3rd period lead evaporate, the Ducks survived overtime and defeated the Kings in a shootout, 5-4. This banked a critical 2nd point for Anaheim over a fellow Pacific Division rival.
Team Rankings Heading Into Tonight’s Matchup
Anaheim Ducks
Powerplay: 4th in NHL (27.7%)
Penalty Kill: 7th in NHL (86.9%)
xGF% at 5v5: 22nd in NHL (48.6%)
CF% at 5v5: 22nd in NHL (48.9%)
Los Angeles Kings
Powerplay: 15th in NHL (18.6%)
Penalty Kill: 22nd in NHL (79.2%)
xGF% at 5v5: 18th in NHL (49.1%)
CF% at 5v5: 12th in NHL (51.5%)
1st Period
The Ducks began the game against their cross-town rivals in a relatively unimpressive fashion, posting a dismal 37.4% xGF and 31.6% CF, and allowing 7 High Danger Chances to the Kings while only generating 3 of their own. Adding to the frustrating start was a lower-body injury sustained by Ducks Captain Ryan Getzlaf, who left the game nearly midway through the 1st period and did not return. However, the Ducks were able to successfully kill a tripping penalty that was called on Jakob Silfverberg with 5:22 remaining in the period. In addition, John Gibson was excellent, making 3 saves on the Kings’ lone powerplay chance allowing no goals throughout the period. The Ducks would enter the 2nd period fortunate to be tied at 0-0.
2nd Period
After a lackluster first 20 minutes, Anaheim rebounded in an emphatic way in the 2nd period, out-chancing and out-shooting the Kings at 5v5 with a 73.9% xGF and 64.7% CF, respectively. The Ducks also generated 5 High Danger Chances at 5v5, while allowing only 2 to the Kings.
Early in this period, it was announced that Ryan Getzlaf’s lower body injury would prevent him from returning to the game. The Ducks earned their first power play opportunity of the game with 11:30 remaining in the period after an interference penalty was called on Kings defenseman Sean Durzi. Although the Ducks could not convert on the powerplay, they were able to capitalize shortly thereafter, as Troy Terry showcased a beautiful individual effort in scoring his team-leading 14th goal of the season unassisted, giving the Ducks a 1-0 lead with 9:17 remaining in the 2nd period. Unfortunately, the Kings’ Alex Iafallo retaliated quickly, scoring his 7th goal of the season (assisted by Phillip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson) with 6:31 left in the period, tying the game at 1-1. With just a few minutes remaining in the second frame, Kevin Shattenkirk entered the Kings zone all by his lonesome after stealing the puck in the neutral zone and ripped a gorgeous snapshot over Jonathan Quick, notching his 5th goal of the season and enabling the Ducks to reclaim the lead, 2-1.
Following a dominant 2nd period, Anaheim entered the final period of the game looking to take a 1-0 season series lead over their bitter rivals from Los Angeles.
3rd Period
The pace of the final period was fast and furious, and Anaheim was initially able to continue to dominate play as they had in the prior 20 minutes. However, a late surge by Los Angeles negated the distinct advantage held by Anaheim early on in the final frame. Overall, the Ducks out-chanced the Kings at 5v5, posting a 57.2% xGF; however, the Kings out-shot the Ducks at 5v5, causing Anaheim to post a 44% CF in the 3rd period. Each team generated 6 High Danger Chances at 5v5 in the final frame.
The Ducks returned to the powerplay just 35 seconds into the 3rd period due to a tripping penalty called on Kings defenseman Alexander Edler. With 9 seconds remaining on the powerplay, Cam Fowler buried his 4th goal of the season in the back of the net, increasing Anaheim’s lead to 3-1. Adam Henrique and Kevin Shattenkirk tallied their 10th and 11th assists of the season, respectively, on this goal. Just 29 seconds later, Jamie Drysdale led a tenacious zone entry into Kings territory and fired a pass to Isac Lundestrom, who put the puck on net and was rewarded with a fortuitous bounce off of Alexander Edler’s leg and across the goal line, securing his 5th goal of the season and increasing Anaheim’s lead to 4-1.
With 12:04 left in regulation, Los Angeles answered back after Adrian Kempe deflected a point shot by defenseman Matt Roy near the front of the net, earning his 8th goal of the season and trimming Anaheim’s lead to 4-2. A mere 21 seconds later, the Kings almost struck again after they entered the Ducks zone and fired a puck towards the net, which allowed Kings forward Carl Grundstrom to tip the puck past John Gibson. However, the play was reviewed and a high sticking infraction on Los Angeles negated the apparent goal, thereby preserving Anaheim’s 4-2 lead.
With just 4:52 remaining in the period, the relentless Kings threw another puck towards the Ducks net and received yet another favorable bounce, and this time Alex Iafallo was credited with his 2nd goal of the game and 8th goal of the season, halving the Ducks advantage to 4-3. Stunningly, 26 seconds later, the Kings once again went on the attack, and Dustin Brown fired home his 3rd goal of the season from the side of the net to tie the game at 4-4. For the remainder of the period, Anaheim employed a notably more conservative strategy, and ultimately neither team broke the 4-4 tie, sending Round 1 of the 2021-2022 Freeway Face-Off to overtime.
Overtime
The extra frame was fairly even and saw Anaheim and Los Angeles each attempt 3 shots and generate a similar number of chances against each other. The Ducks nearly ended the game with just over 1 minute remaining, as Cam Fowler sailed a beautiful backhand shot past Jonathan Quick, but the puck hit the goalpost and bounced away. Ultimately, neither team scored, and the Ducks’ entered their second shootout of the season looking to earn a critical extra point.
Shootout
Kings forward Lias Andersson got the shootout scoring underway in Round 1, giving the Kings a 1-0 early advantage over the Ducks. Trevor Zegras responded with a backhand goal in Round 2, evening the shootout at 1-1 heading into Round 3. John Gibson then made a beautiful save on a backhand attempt by Anze Kopitar. The final shot of Round 3 was taken by Kevin Shattenkirk, who rifled a snapshot past Jonathan Quick, ending the game and procuring 2 points for Anaheim, who won the game 5-4.
Final Thoughts
After a rough start to the game, Anaheim largely controlled play both at 5 on 5 and on the powerplay for the final 2 periods, but could not hold a 3rd period 4-1 lead, which led to overtime and a subsequent shootout against Los Angeles. The Ducks prevailed during Round 3 of the shootout thanks to a game-winning goal from Kevin Shattenkirk, lifting them to a 5-4 victory. The Ducks’ win was vital in that they successfully rebounded from a tough loss to Toronto several days earlier, and earned 2 points against their primary division rival in the Kings, who owned better 5v5 numbers than the Ducks entering the game. Anaheim also persevered throughout most of the game without Ryan Getzlaf, who left the game during the 1st period with a lower-body injury and did not return.
3 Stars
1. Kevin Shattenkirk (1G, 1A, GW shootout goal, 62.7% xGF)
2. Troy Terry (1G, 75.5% xGF)
3. Sonny Milano (71.4% xGF, 60.7% CF)
Up Next
The Ducks (12-8-3, 27 points) make their brief excursion back to the friendly confines of Honda Center in Orange County tomorrow night to face the Vegas Golden Knights (12-9-0, 24 points), with the puck dropping at 7 pm PT for a key Pacific Division battle.
Note: all statistics included in this article are per Natural Stat Trick and ESPN.