LDN - Sports

Carter nets pair to lift Kings past Ducks

[November 21, 2016] ANAHEIM, Calif -- Jeff Carter helped the Los Angeles Kings turn the race for first place in the Pacific Division into something extremely familiar to locals, a rush-hour traffic jam.

Carter scored two power-play goals within 1:14 in the second period to give the Kings a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night at the Honda Center.

Drew Doughty added a goal and an assist, Carter had an assist for a three-point night, and Los Angeles goalie Peter Budaj stopped 28 shots for his 10th victory.

With their third consecutive win, the Kings (10-9-1) moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Pacific Division with the Ducks (9-7-3) and the Edmonton Oilers (10-8-1).

"It's nice to get another win on the road," Carter said. "It's only our third all year, so hopefully we can build on the road."

Los Angeles had to defuse a six-on-four Anaheim advantage in the final 1:53 after rookie defenseman Derek Forbort received a tripping penalty and the Ducks pulled goalie John Gibson.

"We have to be consistent," Carter said. "We can't have these highs and lows and expect to make the playoffs. We have to put wins together. Hopefully, we can keep this going."

Gibson finished with 26 saves for Anaheim, which got third-period goals from Antoine Vermette and Rickard Rakell after falling behind 3-0.

"We didn't play anywhere near where we're capable of," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "They outworked us for two periods. Pucks were going through our sticks. We couldn't execute a tape-to-tape pass. They basically manhandled us against the wall, and we didn't get involved physically until the third period."

The Kings scored three goals in the second period to take control. Doughty scored his third of the season 2:15 into the period by dragging a shot that rose from the right point into the upper left corner of the net.

The Ducks were outshot 9-0 in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second period.

"You know that they're going to come out hard," Kings defenseman Alec Martinez said of his opponents. "It's going to be loud. It's going to be intense. So you've got to go out there knowing that and match or exceed the intensity."

Carter followed with the first of his two power-play goals at 12:21, when he deflected Tanner Pearson's pass from the left circle inside the right post. Then 11 seconds after Anaheim's Kevin Bieksa received a holding penalty, Carter scored his team-leading ninth goal and his fourth in three games.

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Doughty's slap shot from the right point deflected off Ducks defenseman Josh Manson before hitting Carter in the chest. However, the puck fell to the blade of Carter's stick, and Carter converted inside the left post at 13:35.

Vermette ended Budaj's quest for a shutout by deflecting Hampus Lindholm's slap shot inside the left post for his fourth goal 3:34 into the final period. Rakell then narrowed the deficit to 3-2 by converting a wrist shot in the slot with three seconds left on a power play for his sixth goal at 8:36.

"I thought we were moving faster, a little quicker," Vermette said about the Ducks' recovery in the third period. "We had consistent pressure, and as it turned out, we created chances. We looked like a much better team at that point."

Before Rakell scored, Ryan Kesler appeared to get the Ducks' second goal at 6:49. Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf poked the puck from under Budaj's left leg pad toward the net. Doughty blocked the puck with his stick at the goal line before Kesler deflected it. However, officials whistled the play dead when Budaj smothered the puck with his leg pad.

The Ducks also had a chance to score the tying goal with 5:07 to play but Manson's slap shot hit the left post.

"They dominated us in the first two periods," Rakell said. "We just tried to regroup and do something. It couldn't get any worse. I wish we had played the whole game like we did in the last period."

NOTES: Los Angeles scratched D Tom Gilbert and C Anze Kopitar, who missed his fifth consecutive game because of an injured wrist. ... The Kings need one win to reach 1,600 in franchise history. ... Kings coach Darryl Sutter needs 20 wins to surpass Andy Murray and become the team's all-time leader in coaching victories with 216. ... Anaheim scratched LW Joseph Cramarossa and D Clayton Stoner. ... Ducks LW Ryan Garbutt needs three games for 300 in his career. ... The Ducks recalled D Shea Theodore from San Diego (AHL) one day after summoning RW Ondrej Kase from the same club.

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