Los Angeles Kings vs. Anaheim Ducks Pick & Prediction NOVEMBER 29th 2024
Preview and Prediction
The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks will both enter their Freeway Face-Off clash at Anaheim on Friday afternoon following a pair of impressive comeback victories.
Los Angeles, who suffered a humiliating 7-2 defeat to the last-place San Jose Sharks on Monday after giving up five goals in the third period, bounced back with a 4-1 win against the top-ranked Winnipeg Jets at home on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Anaheim, who lost 3-2 to the Seattle Kraken on Monday, redeemed themselves in the second half of the home-and-home series with a convincing 5-2 win on the road on Wednesday.
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The two Southern California rivals will look to continue their positive momentum in the second of their four meetings this season. In their first encounter on October 20th at Anaheim, the game was tied 0-0 going into the third period before the Kings scored four goals, including two empty-netters by Kevin Fiala and Mikey Anderson, to secure a 4-1 victory over the Ducks.
David Rittich only needed to make 13 saves, with just two in the third period, in the Kings' win over the Jets on Wednesday, earning his 100th career NHL win. Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe each contributed a goal and an assist, while Alex Laferriere added two assists as the third-place Los Angeles team closed the gap to just four points behind the Pacific Division leaders, Vegas.
"It's a great example of what we can achieve," said Kings coach Jim Hiller. "It's not easy to maintain that level of play every night in an 82-game season, but it shows us what's possible when we all play together in a certain style."
Trevor Moore, left wing for the Kings, added: "It's a fantastic win. They're the best team in the league. We wish we could play like that every game, and that's on us. We need to bring that same intensity and work ethic. We really committed to our forecheck tonight, and I think it paid off for us."
Anaheim secured their third consecutive road win against Seattle, with John Gibson making a season-high 42 saves to maintain his unbeaten record of 4-0-1 this season. Trevor Zegras, Cutter Gauthier, and Alex Killorn each contributed a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who were a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
"It's pretty simple for us," said Anaheim coach Greg Cronin. "If we put the pucks deep, you saw it was a physical style to start the game, and then I thought we sustained it for 60 minutes. I've been saying all year when you get good sticks and finish checks that means you're skating, and I thought we did a good job of that for 60 minutes."
Gibson, who missed the first month of the season due to emergency appendectomy surgery on September 25th, has yet to lose in regulation in five starts, with a .919 save percentage and 2.57 goals-against average.
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"I feel pretty good with my reads," Gibson said. "I feel like I'm reading the play well and staying square and calm, and just having fun."
The Ducks' win ended an eight-game losing streak against Seattle.
"We played really well," Gibson said. "We did a lot of good things offensively, getting pucks to the net, bodies to the net, and found a way to get some gritty goals. It was a big team win. It'll be nice to have a day off and enjoy Thanksgiving, and then we've got a big game against the Kings."
Los Angeles Kings vs. Anaheim Ducks Recap APR 9TH 2024
Adrian Kempe and Alex Laferriere scored goals early in the third period to help lead the visiting Los Angeles Kings to a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night in the first game of the season in the Freeway Faceoff Series.
Kevin Fiala and Mikey Anderson added two empty-net goals to cap the four-goal third-period and seal it for Los Angeles, which won its second straight game. David Rittich finished with 14 saves for the Kings, who were playing the sixth game of a season-opening seven-game road trip necessitated by renovations at Crypto.com Arena.
Ryan Strome scored a goal and Lukas Dostal made 33 saves for Anaheim.
The tight-checking contest featured just 28 shots on goal over a scoreless first two periods, including just 10 by the Ducks. The Kings had the two best scoring chances, with both coming in the second period. Defenseman Jordan Spence fired a shot off the post and Fiala lofted a backhand shot from the slot just over the crossbar.
Kempe then made it 1-0 at the 3:06 mark of the third period with his third goal of the season, taking a long bank pass off the boards from Anze Kopitar at the blue line and snapping a wrist shot that beat Dostal.
Laferriere increased the lead to 2-0 midway through the period when he intercepted defenseman Jackson LaCombe's crossing pass in the high slot and fired a wrist shot into the top left corner of the net for his fourth goal.
Anaheim cut it to 2-1 with 1:44 remaining when Strome one-timed a shot from the top of the left circle through traffic and past Rittich's glove side for his second goal.
Fiala backhanded in an empty-netter with 1:07 left for his fourth goal, and Anderson capped the scoring with 36 seconds to go with a length-of-ice empty-netter for his second goal.