Ducks stay in groove, beat Kings in LA

[February 05, 2016]  LOS ANGELES -- As poorly as the Anaheim Ducks played to open the season, they are now playing like the contending team most thought they would be. By relying strong defense and goaltending, they found their offensive groove to become one of the hottest teams in the NHL.

Left winger David Perron scored a goal and added two assists, and center Ryan Getzlaf scored a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Thursday.

Anaheim (24-18-7) solidified its hold on the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division, moving two points ahead of the fourth-place Arizona Coyotes. The win was its fifth straight and seventh in the last eight games.

Goaltender John Gibson stopped 23 Los Angeles shots as the Ducks evened the season series between to the teams at 1 all.

Los Angeles (32-16-3) lost for the fourth time in its last six games and saw its lead in the Pacific Division reduced to five points over the second-place San Jose Sharks.

Kings goalie Jonathan Quick stopped just six of the nine shots he faced before being pulled in the second period.

Getzlaf, the subject of criticism all season long due to his lack of goal scoring, has to be more productive down the stretch for the Ducks to stay in playoff position.

"The problem is when I'm not scoring is that I'm told to shoot more and my shot selection goes down," Getzlaf said. "You can put as many pucks on the net as you want but if they aren't scoring chances it doesn't matter."

It was a signature win for the Ducks as they used their tight checking game to control the Kings throughout.

"We did a good job of frustrating them early," said Ducks center Ryan Kesler. "The Kings didn't have anything tonight, they got two fluky goals."

The Kings have hit a valley in their quest to win the first Pacific Division title in franchise history with recent poor home efforts defensively. Their hope is that their annual February road trip will put them back on track.

"We have to be better, and better defensively, said Kings right winger Tyler Toffoli. "There is a big road trip coming up."

Despite having a 10-point lead over Anaheim, Kings coach Darryl Sutter still pegs the Ducks as the team to beat.

They're a good hockey club. They're the team to beat," Sutter said. "They're supposed to win the Stanley Cup; they're supposed to win the division."

Anaheim took a 1-0 lead on Getzlaf's fourth goal of the season at 8:59 of the first period. Perron took possession off a Los Angeles turnover inside the Anaheim zone and sped off on a 2-on-1 break to feed Getzlaf for a snap shot that beat Quick from 23 feet.

The Ducks extended their lead to 2-0 on Perron's seventh goal at 13:19. Getzlaf gained possession at center ice off a turnover and his lead pass glanced off of Perron's skate at the top of the goal crease for the goal. It was Getzlaf's 500th career assist.

The Ducks took a 3-0 lead on left winger Ryan Garbutt's fourth goal of the season at 2:41 of the second period. Right winger Chris Stewart lofted a pass from inside the Anaheim zone to Garbutt at center ice and his wrist shot beat Quick over his left shoulder from 31 feet. Quick was replaced by backup Jhonas Enroth after the score.

Los Angeles drew to within 3-1 on right winger Tyler Toffoli's 23rd goal of the season on the power play at 4:15 of the second period. Defenseman Drew Doughty's shot from the point deflected off an Anaheim player then fluttered off of Toffoli's skate to beat Gibson, who never saw the puck.

The Ducks re-established their three goal lead at 4-1 on defenseman Hampus Lindholm's fifth goal of the season on the power play at 9:57 of the second period. Lindholm drifted in from the blueline and powered a slap shot past Enroth with Kesler and Perron drawing assists.

Defenseman Alec Martinez scored his seventh goal of the season at 19:36 of the third period to close out the scoring.
 

NOTES: Anaheim did not dress D Korbinian Holzer and LW Harry Zolnierczyk. ... The Ducks have three games remaining with their Freeway Faceoff rival Kings (Feb. 28, March 5 and April 7). ... Anaheim leads the NHL in penalty killing percentage, entering Thursday with an 89.6 percent success rate. ... Los Angeles scratched D Christian Ehrhoff, C Andy Andreoff and C Jordan Nolan. ... The Kings activated LW Kyle Clifford from injured reserve. Clifford missed 24 games with an upper-body injury. ... Los Angeles starts a season-long seven game road trip Tuesday in Boston with one of the best road records in the league (16-7-2).

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