ANAHEIM, Calif. — Tuesday night’s edition of the Freeway Faceoff stalled early, hit the gas, weaved through traffic and slammed the brakes on the Ducks’ hopes of playing spoiler as the Kings earned a 2-1 victory that brought them a significant step closer to their first postseason appearance since 2018.
Winger Adrian Kempe opened the scoring and, for the second straight game, center Phillip Danault scored the game-winner as part of his four-game goal streak. Jonathan Quick made his fourth consecutive start, turning in a brilliant performance with 29 saves.
Center Adam Henrique produced the Ducks’ lone goal, and John Gibson had 26 saves in defeat.
While the Ducks were already calculating draft lottery odds, the Kings entered the evening in third place in the Pacific Division between Edmonton and Vegas, both of which were idle on Tuesday. They ended the night two points behind second-place Edmonton and five points ahead of Vegas for the final guaranteed playoff berth from the division.
The Kings dressed the same group as they did in their 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. For the Ducks, forward Sam Carrick and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen came out while Max Comtois and Sam Benoit were inserted into the lineup.
As they did against Columbus on Saturday, the Kings handled a late push and a stretch of 6-on-5 action with aplomb. On Tuesday, however, they needed even more from Quick as the Ducks earned nearly two-thirds of the game’s high-danger chances.
There was also symmetry between the second and third periods, with the Kings scoring in the first minute of both. Their goal 32 seconds into the third had to be awarded on review after the initial call on the ice nullified it due to alleged goalie interference by winger Viktor Arvidsson. Arvidsson smacked a shot off Gibson’s pad, creating a rebound that Danault flicked skyward and in from the side of the net. After initially waving off the goal, it was confirmed on review for Danault’s 25th of the season, further extending his career high.
Though the first period was definitively low-event, with each side producing three chances of note, the second began with a Kings goal just 27 seconds into the frame.
A scrambled draw allowed Kempe to sneak into the faceoff circle and rip a shot to the short side past Gibson.
That lead lasted just over five minutes before the Ducks knotted the score during a power play with Henrique’s backhand goal off a rush ignited by an artful breakout.
The goal put even more wind at the Ducks’ backs as they dominated most of the second period despite settling for a 1-1 score at the second intermission. Henrique’s goal was the Ducks’ eighth consecutive shot attempt without allowing one by the Kings.
They strung together stretches of 10 consecutive attempts and then six straight later in the frame, with only some staunch goaltending from Quick and a bit of puck luck keeping the score tied.
The Kings and Ducks meet again on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
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