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Tonight the LA Kings will be facing the Anaheim Ducks in round two of the Freeway Faceoff. The Kings are coming off their CBA mandated five day break and will be look to come out strong against their division and geographical rival.
In the first matchup this season between these two teams back in November, the Kings came from behind, thanks to a late third period goal by Dustin Brown, to beat the Ducks 2-1 in a shootout. However, this is a completely different Ducks team as star centers Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kelser have come back from early season injuries.
The Western Conference is so tight right now that there are eight teams that are within six points of each other. Currently, the Kings sit in second spot in the Pacific Division, thanks in large part to a hot start, but have lost ground to the Vegas Golden Knights, who have continued their hot stretch while the Kings have been off.
Now when you look at the standings, the Calgary Flames are right on the Kings tails with one point separating them in the standings. After Calgary the San Jose Sharks and the Ducks are not far behind so no matter how early it is in the season, these divisional games are important.
The Ducks are also coming off their mandated five day break so tonight’s game will be a race to see which team can find their legs quicker. Before the break, Anaheim had won three of their last five games, but had two close losses to Calgary and the Edmonton Oilers.
Anaheim is also three points back of Chicago for the final Wild Card spot and five points behind Calgary for third in the Pacific.
Five things to watch
1. Rest or Rust?: As mentioned earlier, both teams are coming off their CBA mandated five day breaks. These breaks can refresh a team and start anew or it may take a while for them to get back to where they were prior to it. Both teams have bumps and bruises that needed to heal, specifically the core of the Anaheim Ducks, but it will be a race of who can find their legs faster and get off to a good start.
2. Healthy Ducks: There is quite a difference between the Ducks team the Kings faced back in November to what it is now. It doesn’t matter what team it is, if they don’t have their top two centers, they will not be the same quality. Since coming back from injury, Getzlaf has three goals and 17 points in 13 games.
Ryan Kelser hasn’t provided the same type of offensive input yet but he is one of the best defensive forwards in the league and that can’t be understated.
3. Play a full 60 minutes: Early in the season the Kings would start slow but came alive in the second and third periods to beat teams. This can be seen by the Kings giving up the first goal 24 times out of the first 42 games. Recently, there has been movement to correct that, but even if the Kings have come out to good start, there have been cases where they lose focus at a different point. As the team tries to improve through the next three months before the playoffs, that will be something to look out for.
4. Be Physical but Be Smart: Both Anaheim and Los Angeles are known as big, heavy teams that like to be physical, especially low in the offensive zones. Both teams will be tested around the crease which will likely lead to tempers flaring. It is important to try to balance that line of protecting your teammates and not taking silly penalties.
These are two very similar teams, both are in the bottom third of the league on the power play but both are also top five on the penalty kill. Even if these teams don’t score on the power play, the time spent in the offensive zone will serve as momentum so it’s important not to tire themselves out killing penalties.
5. Honoring Bob Miller: I don’t see the festivities surrounding Foster Hewitt Memorial winner Bob Miller effecting the game, but this is a chance for fans to say thank you to the voice of the Kings for much of the team’s history. Miller will be getting a statue unveiled outside Staples and have a banner lifted to the rafters.
Miller was the voice of the Los Angeles Kings from 1973 to 2017 and was there for some of the greatest moments in Kings history. Though not allowed to call the Stanley Cup wins in 2012 and 2014 due to a conflict with NBC, there was such a demand for his call of the victories that the Kings had him do a call of the games to be distributed later.
Mr. Miller is still involved with the Kings as a Kings ambassador and the MC of the some of the Kings Legends nights.
A night like this is only fitting for a hall of fame broadcaster like Miller.
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
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