Photo: AP
By Michael Walters
The Anaheim Ducks took a trip up the freeway to Los Angeles to face the Kings for one last time this season. Lukas Dostal was in net against David Rittich.
Recap:
The teams battled to a scoreless tie in the first period. Both teams had a power play chance, but could not convert. The Ducks held a 11-8 shot on goal advantage.
The Kings struck first early in the second period while on the power play. Olen Zellweger was called for tripping and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored with the man advantage to make it 1-0 LA.
LA went on the power play again about five minutes and Frank Vatrano nearly tied up the game shorthanded. He got the puck on a breakaway, but lost it at the moment of truth.
At about the halfway point of the period, Matt Roy scored through traffic to make it a 2-0 lead. The Ducks got a power play late in the period, but came up empty. LA had a two goal advantage after two periods.
Trevor Zegras got Anaheim on the board in the third period. During 4-on-4 play he took a quick wrist shot from the left face-off circle that beat Rittich to pull the Ducks within one.
Kevin Fiala put the Kings back up by two with a wraparound goal in the final minutes of the game. The Ducks pulled Dostal for the extra attacker, but couldn’t get any closer. Anaheim dropped this one by a 3-1 final.
Analysis:
The Ducks had a better start to this contest as opposed to the previous night against the Flames. Anaheim was able to generate plenty of scoring chances against Rittich, but couldn’t solve him outside of the Zegras goal. Zegras and Alex Killorn led the team each with five shots on goal.
Special teams wasn’t as much of a factor in this game, but the Ducks did give up one power play goal in four chances that LA had. Anaheim wasn’t able to score in their two opportunities. Like the game earlier in the week, face-offs were an issue again. The Kings won a whooping 68.3% of the draws.
The NHL schedule has been unusual at times this season. The Ducks will have four days off before playing the Golden Knights on the road for their final game of the season.
Team Notes/Stats:
Boston College lost to Denver in the championship game. As a result, Cutter Gauthier should be signing with the Ducks in the coming days. During the Bally Sports broadcast, Brian Hayward said he expects to see Gauthier play in the final game against Vegas.
What’s Next?
The Ducks will finish the season Thursday at 7PM in Las Vegas.
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April 14th, 2024
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