Kings vs. Ducks: Battle for the Pacific Division

By Emily Redenbach
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Updated: April 8, 2016

If you told me in January that the Kings would need to win outright against the Ducks and in any way against Winnipeg to secure first place in the Pacific division I’d have thought you’re crazy. If you told me it’d be the Ducks who would take it over I’d be like “uh maybe last season, have you seen this season?” And if you told me the Kings could potentially lose home ice a month ago when they were the second team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot I’d have lost my mind. While there are still many scenarios (with so few games left that’s crazy to think!) the one situation that is sure is the Kings will have home ice for at least the first round of playoffs. And with an outright win against the Ducks tonight the Pacific Division is still attainable for the Kings! A win against Winnipeg will seal it. A loss – well we’ll get to that next game if necessary.

It felt like a playoff game from the first puck drop. It was fast, it was brutal, it was exciting – it was a grind and each team seemed evenly matched. In true Ducks/Kings fashion there was some after the whistle scuffles. Kyle Clifford and Ben Chris Stewart got the first (of many) penalties for dropping the gloves on the following faceoff but not actually fighting. The four on four isn’t the Kings strong suit (see our overtime record last season compared to this seasons with the three on three) but Jonathan Quick was up to the task. Tyler Toffoli was slammed in front of the Kings net with no call so the Kings responded by peppering Jon Gibson with what felt like 20 chances in the space of 60 seconds, yet to no avail. It wasn’t that Gibson was good, but the chances were too fast to be well set up. It must have tired him out though. Toffoli then had a clean breakaway that he tried to get to fancy on and lost the puck before he could get too close to Gibson.

Things got even more heated when Corey Perry basically tried to share the same physical space as Quick and Luke Schenn responded. There was a lot going on behind the net that resulted in Schenn getting a roughing penalty and Quick getting an interference penalty. Luckily the Ducks also had two men in the box – Perry for goaltender interference and Korbinian Holzer for roughing Schenn. When that sideshow was done hockey resumed, then Dustin Brown, who’d been very physical, found himself in the box. Never to worry about being short-handed, Anze Kopitar ended up with more short-handed bids than the Ducks had power play chances, and even drew a hooking penalty on Cam Fowler when he tried one of them.

Of course it was the Ducks who scored the first goal. Quick, who was slightly over extended on the left hand side of the net couldn’t get back in time to stop Ryan Kesler from an easy shot in from the right hand side. The Kings didn’t let it deflate them however, and came back with a vengeance in the second period. It took Milan Lucic 28 seconds into that period to score the equalizer – a gorgeous shot from the left point that passed through traffic past Gibson. Schenn then got into it with Getzlaf center ice and thoroughly destroyed him. The Kings followed up with a second goal less than 90 seconds later. This time it was from Versteeg, who had a stunning top shelf wrister that seemed to travel around Gibson and in. And because this is a Kings game, he followed up with a penalty. The result could have changed the whole momentum of the game. It did – for the Kings favor. The save came from Drew Doughty actually; Quick had no idea where the puck was – it was behind him and almost across the goal line when Doughty cleared it out. Shawn Horcoff, who thought holding Rob Scuderi’s stick so he couldn’t help out the defense, was called a second later.

3 minutes later at 9:06 a Andy Andreoff drawn penalty could have also spelled disaster, when Jake Muzzin had his pocket picked in the Kings zone trying to get the puck back to the power play. Instead Quick was on point. The tide had turned in the second to the Kings. They had twice the amount of shots. And the Doughty save was both timely and amazing, creating a great sense of control for the Kings. So, even when Andreoff was called with 1:08 remaining, and Brown was without a stick for most of that minute, the Ducks still couldn’t get past the Kings. Kesler was so upset he broke his own stick. The Kings killed the rest of the penalty into the third easily. Tanner Pearson had the most gorgeous play of the evening with a slick backhand pass to Kopitar who could have scored again had he gone top shelf not on the ice.

Then things got weird for Gibson. He had a skate malfunction and had to leave the game for 1:11 of play. He came back and play resumed, still relatively even on both sides. No one was getting past either sides defense. It was tense; neither side giving up chances. As the clock wound down the Kings were battling for the game like the Division title was relying on it. With 1:40 the play stopped by Quick, Anaheim pulled Gibson and called their time out. They had some good looks but no one was stopping Quick, and the Kings had a couple of timely clears. With 13.2 seconds remaining it looked like there may have been a goal but the combination of the net being dislodged from its moorings and a high stick on the play negated it immediately. The play wasn’t even reviewed. It was easy from there!

Quick recorded a franchise record 40 wins. The Jennings trophy is within the Kings grasp again; the Ducks have 189 goals against with 2 games remaining, the Capitals have 190 with 2 games remaining and the Kings have 191 with their final game against Winnipeg coming up on Saturday. With so many regular season milestones on the record, the Kings should bring their A-game. Because then it’s time for the 16 most important games of the season!

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