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 Each of the previous three meetings went to either overtime or a
shootout.
"We played well all game and we got rewarded at the end," Ducks
center Ryan Kesler said. "I don't think we were frustrated, I think
we were focused."
Kesler, left winger Emerson Etem and right winger Corey Perry lit
the lamp for Anaheim, with Perry adding a second goal into the empty
net.
Left winger Trevor Lewis and defenseman Brayden McNabb scored for
Los Angeles.
The Kings went with No. 2 goalie Martin Jones, who made 28 of 31
saves. Ducks rookie John Gibson stopped 20 shots to earn the victory
in his eighth straight start.
After 15 frenetic minutes, the Kings opened the scoring. Lewis shook
off defenseman Francois Beauchemin hip check and weaved to the goal
mouth where he slipped the puck past Gibson for goal No. 8 of the
season.
 Despite a ferocious forecheck that led to a 20-10 advantage in shots
on goal, Anaheim fell behind 2-0 when McNabb's wrist shot from the
point went in off defenseman Hampus Lindholm's leg. It was McNabb's
second career goal and his first as a King.
Despite the early lead, Kings coach Darryl Sutter noticed some fatal
flaws in his team's effort throughout the game.
"I think their forecheck overwhelmed us the whole night and it just
caught up with us," Sutter said.
The Ducks started chipping away at 4:37 into the third period, and
fittingly off their forecheck. Right winger Jakob Silfverberg
collected a turnover behind the net, setting off a quick sequence
that was capped off by a wrist shot lifted into the net by Kesler
from close quarters for his 16th goal of the season. It was a
welcome reward for the Ducks' shutdown line, which competed hard
against center Anze Kopitar and the Kings' top line.
"That line's done a great job in the last two weeks against every
line we've put them against and they've also scored, so it's a
double blessing," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Anaheim would knot the score 90 seconds later, again off the
forecheck. This time, it was their young line of center Rickard
Rakell, recently acquired right winger Jiri Sekac and Etem, who
deflected home his fourth goal of the season.
Kesler said he thought it was Rakell's line that played the best for
his team Friday, pointing to a second period shift where they
sustained heavy pressure.
"I think they hemmed (the Kings) in for like three minutes," Kesler
said. "(Kings defenseman Andrej) Sekera was on the ice for almost
four minutes, it seemed like he was dying out there."
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The Ducks got the go-ahead goal when Perry followed center Ryan
Getzlaf's lob to the net to pop in his team-leading 25th goal of the
campaign with 8:39 left to play.
"A four-line game against the Kings, you have to have it or you're
not going to be successful," Boudreau said.
Anaheim iced its cake with an empty-netter from Perry with 23.6
seconds remaining.
It was the 10th victory this season for the Ducks after trailing
through two periods and their second in three games. Against Detroit
on Wednesday, they scored three times off rebounds after they
started shooting high on goaltender Jimmy Howard at Boudreau's
behest. Friday brought another adjustment that paid off for
Boudreau's club.
"The main thing that was said was that we're not going to score if
we don't go to the net," said Boudreau, whose team proceeded to
score three straight goals from well within five feet of the net to
complete their comeback.
NOTES: Anaheim recalled C Chris Wagner from its AHL affiliate in
Norfolk, Va., and he was inserted into the lineup in place of C
William Karlsson, who was reassigned to the AHL. ... The Ducks also
sent G Jason LaBarbera back to Norfolk. ... Anaheim G Frederik
Andersen (neck) missed his ninth straight game. He dressed as the
backup goalie and may return during the team's upcoming two-game
road trip. ... The Ducks were without D Sami Vatanen (lower body),
LW Matt Beleskey (upper body) and C Nate Thompson (lower body). ...
The Kings returned D Derek Forbort to their AHL affiliate in
Manchester, N.H. ... Los Angeles D Andrej Sekera, acquired from
Carolina in a trade Wednesday, made his Kings debut, taking D Jamie
McBain's spot in the lineup. ... The Kings were missing LW Tanner
Pearson (leg) and D Alec Martinez (concussion), whom they placed on
injured reserve Thursday. D Slava Voynov remains suspended
indefinitely pending the outcome of his criminal trial, which is set
to begin March 2.
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