In Los Angeles Thursday night, the Anaheim Ducks continued their surge in the Pacific as they upended the Kings, 4-2.
David Perron and Ryan Getzlaf scored to lead the Ducks to their fifth straight win.
John Gibson made 23 saves in win over LA – file photo by Brent Clark
“We felt really good coming out of Christmas,” Getzlaf said. “I felt the Christmas break was a little step for us to just breathe a minute and enjoy the families. I felt we came back to the rink with a little bit of a new life and started buying in a little bit more every day, and we’ve been building it.”
Ryan Garbutt and Hampus Lindholm also scored for the Ducks.
Tyler Toffoli was credited with his 23rd of the season on a deflection off his leg that put the Kings on the board at 3-1.
“The whole game wasn’t the way we wanted it, and I’m pretty sure it showed to everybody in the arena and [everybody] watching saw that,” Toffoli said. “We just didn’t play the way we wanted to play. We were turning pucks over, and when you’re down 2-0 10 minutes into the game, it’s tough to come back.”
The Kings have four of six games.
Jonathan Quick was pulled in the second period after the Ducks went up, 3-0.
“I thought when you chase a goalie like that out of the net, obviously you’re playing well,” Ducks center Ryan Kesler said. “It was a weird game tonight. I didn’t think it was a typical Ducks-Kings game. It seemed to lack that grittiness and those hits, but all in all, I thought it was a good game.”
John Gibson made 23 saves in the win.
Alec Martinez also scored for the Kings, with 24 seconds left in the game.
With Getzlaf heating up, the Ducks have a chance to catch the San Jose Sharks, who are in second place in the division, three points ahead.
“With the history of this team, if he’s playing like he was tonight, then usually the rest of the team follows suit,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said.
David Perron had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Getzlaf scored
You must be logged in to post a comment.