The Anaheim Ducks hosted its annual Black Friday matinee on Nov. 29 against the Los Angeles Kings. The two rivals came into today’s game with six points of separation in the standings as Los Angeles maintains a hold on the Pacific Division’s final guaranteed playoff spot. Still, both came in riding off the back of feel-good wins — the Ducks squashed the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday with a 5-2 victory in the Pacific Northwest, while on the same day, the Kings put a 4-1 beatdown on the league-leading Winnipeg Jets.
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Alex Laferriere’s goal one minute into the third period was the difference as the Kings defeated the Ducks 2-1 in a sluggish, low-event game.
Game Recap
Erik Portillo made his NHL debut in net for the Kings after serving as backup for several weeks while Darcy Kuemper remains on injured reserve. He was put to the test halfway through the first period when Tanner Jeannot’s interference penalty left Los Angeles shorthanded. The third-round pick from the 2019 NHL Draft answered the call by stopping a barrage of shots from Ryan Strome, Troy Terry, and Frank Vatrano to maintain the scoreless tie.
John Gibson was given the start for the Ducks after a stellar 42-save performance Wednesday in Seattle. The Kings were awarded a power play of their own shortly after Jeannot’s expired, but they registered only one shot on Gibson. The first period ended scoreless, with the Anaheim outshooting Los Angeles 10-8.
The Ducks got on the board early in the second period after a point shot from Drew Helleson deflected off Strome’s stick and the veteran followed up on his rebound from his backhand. The lead didn’t last long, as just over halfway through the period, the Kings forced a neutral zone turnover and Alex Turcotte converted on a 2-on-1 with Alex Laferriere to tie the game at one.
The Kings broke the tie early in the third period after Brandt Clark’s shot landed in front of the net and was banged home by Laferriere. The pace of play opened up significantly after the goal. The Ducks had a few great opportunities to even the score — including another power play — but were turned away by Portillo each time.
Midway through the third period, Portillo lost one of his skate blades, rendering him nearly immobile in net. The play continued for at least another minute, but the referees eventually noticed and blew the whistle. The television timeout wasn’t long enough to fix his equipment issue, so David Rittich had to come in relief with 9:16 remaining in the game. Portillo eventually returned to the game and made a game-saving toe-save while Terry tried stick handling around him with 20 seconds remaining.
Game Notes
- With a win today, the Kings improved its Freeway Faceoff record to 79-58-11-17 all-time. They’ve won 12 of the last 13 matchups.
- The Ducks have hosted a Black Friday game in every non-lockout or COVID-19-truncated season since 2002-03. They are 9-10-4 during that time and maintain an overall Black Friday record of 11-11-5. However, recent history hasn’t been kind to Anaheim as they’ve gone 2-7-1 over their last nine games on the holiday. This was their first Black Friday game against the Kings since Nov. 29, 2002 (2-2 tie).
- Kings forward Trevor Lewis skated in his 998th career game. Game 1,000 is slated for Wednesday, Dec. 4 against the Dallas Stars. His 780 games with Los Angeles tie Mattias Norstrom for eighth in franchise history.
- The Ducks have killed a perfect 15-of-15 penalties in their last six games after having a 67% penalty kill over their first 16 games.
- This was Gibson’s first regulation loss of the season. He’s 4-1-1 since starting the season on injured reserve.
The Kings (13-8-3) wrap up the second part of their back-to-back tomorrow afternoon at home against the Ottawa Senators. The Ducks (9-10-3) continue their homestand against the Senators on Sunday.
