All looked rosy for the Los Angeles Kings through forty minutes of play Friday night. The problem was they forgot to play the final twenty in a 4-2 loss to the Ducks in Anaheim.
Corey Perry scored twice in the third to lead the Ducks’ four-goal rally.
“We want to beat them,” Perry said. “They’re our crosstown rival. Every night is a close game, either one or two goals … those are going the types of games we’ll see in the playoffs.”
Ryan Kesler had a goal and assist in the final period.
“We have a resilient group, and we seem to be focused and determined to win the game tonight, and we were rewarded in the end,” Kessler said.
“We turned the corner tonight. That’s the kind of hockey we need to start playing. Not just against L.A., but against every team. We knew how well they were playing up until this game, and how few goals they were giving up. We were upbeat and we definitely took it to them in the third period.”
John Gibson stopped 20 of 22 shots for the win.
“There’s not a single team that you can sit back and just collect points against and not play the third period,” Kings’ defenseman Matt Greene said. “That’s case and point tonight. They’re a good team, but you can’t do that against anybody. We have to be better than that. We have to continue playing our game, continue getting pucks deep and forecheck teams. That’s how we play and that’s how we have success grinding teams down.”
Trevor Lewis and Brayden McNabb scored for LA in the loss.
“The Ducks are a good team,” LA’s Dustin Brown said. “There’s a reason they’ve won the [Pacific] Division for a couple of years in a row now. Part of it is how we played. The longer the season goes on, the less lucky teams are.”
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