Kings edge Ducks, 3-2, after penalties Gibson's 48 saves not enough

Posted on by

In Los Angeles, the Kings and visiting Anaheim Ducks traded special teams goals throughout regulation.

The Kings hit twice off power plays, and the Ducks scored once on a power play and once with a shorthanded strike for a 2-2 tie after regulation.

David Rittich made 22 saves in the win.

The Kings moved to 29-17-10.

“Obviously, the shootout, we haven’t been great at shootouts all year, so that was big for confidence,” the Kings’ Adrian Kempe said. “And I think overall [we] deserved the two points. Maybe wasn’t our best performance overall, but it was a big win.”

In the opening stanza, the Ducks took a 1-0 lead on a power play strike by Jakob Silfverberg midway through the period.

LA replied with a power play goal of their own when Kevin Fiala hit at 15:23 for a 1-1 tie headed to the middle frame.

“Goal-scorers, they like to feel it,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “Once you get one, all of a sudden you got a lot more confidence. Instead of thinking pass, you’re thinking shot, and I think that’s what we’re seeing with Kevin. I thought that was one of Kevin’s better games of the year. In the O-zone, he looked like himself.”

The Ducks dropped to 20-34-3.

“Even though it has been a while since we’ve played them this year, that rivalry is always there,” Anaheim center Sam Carrick said. “We would have liked to beat them tonight here in their own building. I thought it was a pretty good effort overall by our guys, and we’ll build on it.”

Carrick restored the Ducks lead at 9:08 of the middle frame, 2-1, on a shorthanded goal off an odd man rush.

Drew Doughty potted the Kings’ second power play marker at 14:24 off a wrist shot for a 2-2 tie.

“The last two games maybe haven’t had as many chances as previous games,” LA’s Adrian Kempe said. “But hopefully it’s just a fluke and something we can get out of next game.”

John Gibson made 48 saves in the loss. One is left to wonder how many Cups Gibson might have had he iced for a decent team.

“We had multiple 2-on-1’s and we had a 3-on-1 where I think we passed it.” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “We didn’t take shots.”