Freeway Face-Off: Round 3

Graphic: NHL

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks(19-15-9) come out of their bye week with a matchup against the Los Angeles Kings(24-13-5). The Ducks are 0-0-2 against the Kings so far this season. The game starts at 7:30 PM PT and will be on Prime Ticket locally and AM 830.

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Anaheim Outlook:

The Ducks are coming out of their bye week with a loss to the Flames, who scored with 16 seconds to go to beat the Ducks 3-2. Anaheim did recall Jared Boll and Ondrej Kase, who both could be in the lineup tonight. Kase and Kevin Roy were both sent down to San Diego earlier in the week. The Ducks did announce yesterday that Andrew Cogliano signed a 3-year extension.

Keys To The Game

The Ducks have battled the Kings twice this season with both games going to beyond regulation. In both contests, the Ducks scored first, but Dustin Brown scored a third-period goal in each game to force overtime. If the Ducks are able to get the lead again early on, then they need to find a way to keep it in the third period. Anaheim can’t afford to sit on any kind of lead against Los Angeles.

Anaheim’s Projected Lineup:

Offense
Ondrej Kase – Ryan Getzlaf – Rickard Rakell
Andrew Cogliano – Ryan Kesler – Jakob Silfverberg
Nick Ritchie – Adam Henrique – Corey Perry
Chris Wagner – Antoine Vermette – Jared Boll

Defense
Cam Fowler  – Kevin Bieksa
Hampus Lindholm – Josh Manson
Francois Beauchemin – Brandon Montour

In Net
John Gibson, 13-13-2, GAA 2.65, SV% .923 (Confirmed)

Los Angeles Outlook:

The Kings come out of their bye week having lost their last two games against Calgary and Nashville. Los Angeles is currently in second place in the Pacific Division, seven points behind the Vegas Golden Knights and just one point ahead of Calgary. Tyler Toffoli leads the team with 18 goals. Anze Kopitar has 17 goals and Dustin Brown has 15.

Keys To The Game

The Kings have gotten behind early in both games against the Ducks but were able to rally in the third period to tie the game. Los Angeles would like to get out to a better start especially after having lost their last two games before their bye week. The Kings also need to work on their power play, which is 17.6% efficient ranking them 22nd in the league.

Los Angeles Projected Lineup:

Offense
Tanner Pearson – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown
Marian Gaborik – Adrian Kempe – Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford – Nick Shore – Trevor Lewis
Andy Andreoff – Torrey Mitchell – Jussi Jokinen

Defense
Derek Forbort – Drew Doughty
Kurtis MacDermid – Alec Martinez
Oscar Fantenberg – Christian Folin

In Net
Jonathan Quick, 19-13-2, GAA 2.31, SV% .926 (Confirmed)

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January 6th, 2018