Kings Drop Ducks 2-1 in Freeway Faceoff Finale, Take Over First Place in Pacific Division

LOS ANGELES – The Kings scored two unanswered goals in the second period and Los Angeles dropped the rival Ducks, 2-1, to take over first place in the Pacific Division on Thursday night at Staples Center.

The Ducks opened up the scoring at the end of the first period when Ryan Kesler scored his 21st goal of the season on a wide-open shot from the left side of the net. Jakob Silfverberg deked out the L.A. defense in the Kings zone and found Kesler for the easy goal.

The Kings would buckle down from there and scored two unanswered goals in the second period to take the lead.

"They were pretty determined, they came in, they outworked us and they got two goals in five minues and that was the game," said Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau.

Milan Lucic scored his 20th goal with his new team when, like Kesler, he found himself with the puck wide-open on the left side of the net. After a back pass by Anze Kopitar, Tanner Pearson collided with a Ducks defender as the puck ricocheted to Lucic who was in the right place at the right time for the game-tying goal.

"There are momentum changes in games. There are big shifts during games. The goal early in the second brought us back," said Kings head coach Darryl Sutter. "We were playing the right way, we just hadn't scored yet."

Minutes later, it was winger Kris Versteeg who continued to show his value as he cleaned up in front of the net. Versteeg stayed with a Brayden McNabb shot that bounced off the crossbar, eventually pushing it past John Gibson for the go-ahead goal.

"It's a main theme to get pucks to the net and have guys there," said Versteeg. "I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time tonight."

Gibson had trouble with his skate midway through the third period, and had to come off the ice for a few minutes. Anton Khudobin came in for relief and made two saves before Gibson returned.

The game had a playoff atmosphere as the soldout Staples Center crowd was on pins and needles throughout the third period. Anaheim posts the league's best power play percentage at just over 28 percent -- a stat they proved with two PP goals the last time these two teams met on March 5 -- but the King's penalty kill is among the tops in the NHL, and they shutout the Ducks out on the PP (0-6) on Thursday night.

"Our PK was huge," Kings captain Dustin Brown said. His teammate, Drew Doughty, agreed. 

"We played good defensive hockey," added Doughty. Pucks were getting to the net, and we were clearing them and blocking shots, so it was a good game overall.

Doughty made the play of the game in the waning seconds of the second period with Anaheim on the power play. A slapshot by Ducks defenseman, Josh Manson, trickled past Quick and into the crease where Mike Santorelli was ready to pounce. Thankfully, Doughty got their a nanosecond before him and cleared the puck. If Doughty was any later, the game would have been tied.

"I was in the right spot at the right time," Doughty said of the play. "The puck was laying around the net, so far this year on the penalty kill, usually those pucks are going in. Fortunately, we had a bounce go our way and I was able to clear it. It happened to be a big play in the game."

Gr8 save pic.twitter.com/A58M8rha5J — LA Kings (@LAKings) April 8, 2016

The victory gives the Kings a two-point lead in the Pacific Division over Anaheim with just one final game left to play. Fortunately for the Ducks, they have two games left to play in the regular season.

If Los Angeles can win their season finale against Winnipeg on Saturday, they will be crowned champions of the Pacific Division by virtue of the tie-breaker (wins in regulation), assuming the Ducks win their final two games of the season. If the Kings lose their final game on Saturday, the Ducks can pass the Kings with wins over Colorado and Washington this weekend.

Players of the Game:

Milan Lucic: goal.
Anze Kopitar: 48th assist of the season.
Kris Versteeg: game-winning goal.
Jonathan Quick: 19 saves.

Three Takeaways:

1. Pacific Rim: The blurred picture of the Pacific Division got a little clearer on Thursday. By virtue of their win over Anaheim and the San Jose Sharks loss to the Jets, the Kings can finish no worse than second in the division. A win on Saturday against Winnipeg, and they win the division. A loss, and all eyes will be on the Ducks in their season finale on Sunday against Washington.

With SJ failing to get two points, LA clinched home ice advantage in the first round. With a win on Saturday vs WPG, LA wins the division. — Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) April 8, 2016

2. Johnny Quick: With his 40th win of the season on Thursday night, Jonathan Quick became the first goalie in Los Angeles Kings history to win 40 games in a single season. He will have an opportunity to extend that record to 41 games in the season finale on Sunday.

So proud of you Quickie, congratulations!!! @JonathanQuick32 ���� #LAKings pic.twitter.com/3Did05sRgI — Alli Kat (@AlliSilis) April 8, 2016

3. Down Goes Gibson: The Anaheim Ducks starting goalie had some trouble with his skate with 16:12 remaining in the third period. After making a big save on Anze Kopitar, Gibson skated back to the net, but slipped and fell in the crease. He left immediately and went back to the locker room to fix his skate and returned to the net a few minutes later.

oops pic.twitter.com/RBrpyqZnoW — LA Kings (@LAKings) April 8, 2016

Up Next:

Anaheim (44-25-11) has two games remaining as they finish the season on back-to-back games against the Colorado Avalanche and Washington Capitals this weekend.

The Los Angeles Kings (48-28-5) conclude their season on Saturday, April 9, when they host the Winnipeg Jets at 7:00PM PST at Staples Center.

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