Ducks Can’t Slow Down Kings

Photo: OC Register

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks squared off with the LA Kings for their first meeting of this season. John Gibson was in net against Cam Talbot.

Recap

The Ducks got the first power play of the game almost seven minutes into the game, but couldn’t convert. The Kings then were awarded back-to-back power plays and they scored on both of them. Kevin Fiala scored on the first man advantage and then Arthur Kaliyev scored two minutes later on the next power play. Anaheim was down 2-0 at the end of the first period.

Quinton Byfield scored just over a minute into the second period to make it a 3-0 LA lead. And Kevin Fiala scored his second of the game about 90 seconds later to extend the lead to 4-0. Sam Carrick and Andreas Englund then mixed it up shortly after.

It only took amount of a minute game time before all ten players went at it. Frank Vatrano tripped Pierre-Luc Dubois and then Mikey Anderson took exception to the play and crossed checked Vatrano. All 10 players mixed it up. It looked like things settled down, but then Ryan Strome tied to pick up a stick near Dubois and all hell broke loose again. After all was said and done somehow the teams resumed play 5-on-5.

The Ducks finally got on the board just over halfway through the second period. Radko Gudas took a slap shot that beat Talbot from down town. Anaheim was down 4-1 after two periods of play.

Anze Kopitar scored early in the third period to make it a 5-1 game. The Ducks went on the power play about halfway through the period and Alex Killorn scored his first goal as a Duck. The puck came to Killorn at the side of the net and he was able to wrist it past Talbot for the score.

The Ducks tried to make a push in the final minutes of the game, but they couldn’t get any closer and lost 5-2.

Analysis:

The Ducks got off to a bad start and couldn’t recover. In the 20 games they played so far this season, the opponents have scored first 13 times. Anaheim has also been behind to start the third period in 14 games so far this season. In the first 9 instances the Ducks rallied to win 6 times. In the last 5 instances the Ducks have lost each time.

Anaheim had two poor sequences in play that cost them in this game. First was going shorthanded back-to-back in the first period, which resulted in two goals for the Kings in about two minutes of play. The Ducks then had a rough start in the second period giving up two goals in the first three minutes.

The final score was ugly, but in terms of puck possession at even strength the teams were very even. The Ducks had 49 shot attempts resulting in 31 shots on goal. The Kings on 48 shot attempts also resulting 31 shots on goal. The Ducks had a thin edge in puck possession with a 50.52 CF% and 50.65 FF%. The difference was the Kings were able to forecheck almost at will whereas the Ducks were inconsistent at being able to sustain offensive pressure throughout the contest.

What’s Next?

The Ducks hit the road to face the Oilers Sunday at 6pm.

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November 24th, 2023