The Los Angeles Kings hit the road on Black Friday to face their neighbors and long-time rivals, the Anaheim Ducks. The game was the first of the season’s meetings between the two, and kicked off the “Freeway Faceoff” series. The Kings sat at first in the Western Conference Wild Card spot, while the Ducks sat first in the Pacific Division.
First Period
Kings’ forward Alex Laferriere scored the first goal of the game, assisted by Trevor Moore and Brian Dumoulin. It took nearly 18 minutes before either team found the back of the net. Los Angeles also got the first power play of the game after Radko Gudas took a holding penalty. They would end the first period and start the second period with an extra attacker.
Related: Revisiting the Los Angeles Kings’ Trade For Kevin Fiala
The period concluded with shots being nine to seven in favor of the Kings. The Ducks, however, controlled faceoffs, winning 63.2% of them. They were also dominant in hits, blocked shots, and takeaways.
Second Period
The Ducks successfully killed the penalty to start the second period. Later in the period, they had their first power play of the game after a trip was called on Alex Turcotte. Just 10 seconds in, Chris Kreider beat Darcy Kuemper and scored to tie the game. Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson assisted on the marker.
Very shortly after the Ducks’ goal, the Kings regained the lead when Kevin Fiala got one past goaltender Ville Husso, assisted by Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke. The lead lasted less than a minute because Olen Zellweger scored to tie up the game once again—Alex Killorn and Carlsson notched points on Zellweger’s goal.
Clarke took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the period to give the Ducks their second power play of the game, which they did not convert. They were, however, extremely dominant in shots on goal during the middle period, having 11 to the Kings’ five. Despite a high shot volume against Kuemper, he remained strong, and the game was tied 2-2 heading into the second intermission.
Third Period and Overtime
Turcotte scored his first goal of the season to give the Kings a 3-2 lead. Clarke and Brian Dumoulin registered the assists. Just a few minutes later, the lead was extended to two after Mikey Anderson and Moore fed Joel Edmundson, who got it past Husso. That lead was cut to one after the first goal of the season by Pavel Mintyukov, a Ducks defenseman. Beckett Sennecke and Mason McTavish assisted.
The Ducks pulled their goaltender in the final few minutes of play to add an extra player, which turned out to be a successful move. Carlsson scored with roughly 90 seconds left to tie the game and, ultimately, send it to overtime.
Despite the Ducks having four shots and the Kings two in the overtime period, nobody was able to get a puck into the net. The game went to a shootout, where Husso and Kuemper would really be tested. In the first round, Kuemper stopped Carlsson, and Fiala hit the post. Terry got it five-hole past Kuemper, while Kempe missed. Finally, McTavish got the puck into the net and gave his Ducks a 5-4 victory against their rivals.