122-Word Recap
The Los Angeles Kings hadn’t won outside of Staples Center in nearly two months—that’s eleven straight road losses—but found a way to take one in Anaheim as they beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in the second game of the annual Freeway Faceoff series.
Spurred by the strong play of Jonathan Quick and his 36 saves (including 15 high-quality first period chances), the Kings jumped to a 2-0 lead on the strength of Matt Luff’s first goal of the year and a second-period Jeff Carter goal on a 5-on-3 power play. Tyler Toffoli continued his resurgence with two assists giving him four points (1G, 3A) in the last two games.
The Ducks dropped to 13-15-4 and the Kings improved to 13-18-2.
Game Notes
Stars of the Game—(As you will see, the voting for the three stars of the game has very much a home arena feel to it) Quick (1st), Jakob Silfverberg (2nd), Cam Fowler (3rd)… Kings trail the Ducks by two points in the standings… Kings trail the San Jose Sharks by four points with a game in hand… Austin Wagner continued his AHL-level play looking spectacular at times but generating nothing… His worthless neutral ice cross checking penalty led to the Ducks lone goal… Carter’s game winner was only his second road point of the year… the Kings won their first back-to-back games since November 16… The Ducks have lost eight of 11 games… Quick is 7-4-1 in his last 12 games with a 2.17 GAA… He has saved 65 of 67 shots in his past two starts… Prior to the win the Kings amassed a 0-10-1 road record since a 3-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets on October 22… LW Nikolai Prokhorkin was scratched for the second straight game after a mostly illegal hit to the head in Calgary last weekend… The league office didn’t look twice at the hit… Matt Roy has four points (1G, 3A) in his career-high three-game point streak…
UP NEXT: The Kings continue their six-game roadie with a visit to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
Highlights
Kings 1. Ducks 0.
18:31 1st, Luff (1) from Toffoli (9) and Roy (7)
Kings 2. Ducks 0.
4:27 2nd, Carter (9) PPG from Doughty (15), Toffoli (10)
Quick and Friends
2nd
Quick save on Fowler with some help from Lewis: https://t.co/dYWuZ6JhTs#LAKvsANA #GoKingsGo #LAKings #LetsGoDucks pic.twitter.com/z4Oxq7JkR6
— Eric (@Kingsgifs) December 13, 2019
Heavyweight Action
MacDermid, 6’5” 233 lbs. vs. Deslauriers, 6’3” 219 lbs.
Second Period, 10:20
MacDermid vs Deslauriers: https://t.co/1efDLzmrD2#LAKvsANA #GoKingsGo #LAKings #LetsGoDucks pic.twitter.com/UYZa8iIVfC
— Eric (@Kingsgifs) December 13, 2019
Kings 2. Ducks 1.
5:12 3rd, Grant (9) from Silfverberg (11) and Comtois (4)
Too Quick!
10:50 3rd
After the Final Buzzer
The right way to kick off a road trip ✌️ pic.twitter.com/6iV9kT1QqW
— LA Kings (@LAKings) December 13, 2019
Quotables
Never change, Drew.
Great words from Dewey on Big Mac’s fight tonight: pic.twitter.com/ezyRardDuS
— Carrlyn Bathe (@CarrlynBathe) December 13, 2019
“Good team effort, great goaltending. You need all of those things to win – especially on the road”
Coach Todd McLellan reflects on tonight’s win in Anaheim@LAKings | #FreewayFaceoff | #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/63pN5U2IGz
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) December 13, 2019
“Tonight we played with the lead and stuck to our systems and things went well”@SeanWalk2 chats with @CarrlynBathe after the #FreewayFaceoff victory@LAKings | #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/t42ASWWJe5
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) December 13, 2019
“He was so sharp, he was so crisp in his movements… I think the @LAKings felt under control tonight because @JonathanQuick32 had everything taken care of down in his own zone”@JimFox19 looks back at #32’s performance tonight@jarretstoll | @Patrick_ONeal | #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/iiHlogZIf2
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) December 13, 2019
“I was just in the right place at the right time to put it in the net”@Matt_Luff25 shares his thoughts on his first goal of the season & how the @LAKings plan to keep the energy alive for the next 40 👊@CarrlynBathe | #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/3TgYO1NY4L
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) December 13, 2019
Kings All-Decade Team Selected
Forwards
First Line: Dustin Brown – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Second Line: Tanner Pearson – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Third Line: Dwight King – Jarret Stoll – Trevor Lewis
Fourth Line: Kyle Clifford – Mike Richards – Marian Gaborik
Defense
First Pair: Rob Scuderi – Drew Doughty
Second Pair: Jake Muzzin – Alec Martinez
Third Pair: Willie Mitchell – Matt Greene
Goalies
Jonathan Quick (starter)
Peter Budaj (backup)
The Bottom Five
Looking Ahead
The Number One Overall Draft Pick in 2020