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The first battle of this season’s Freeway Faceoff was a doozy.
The Los Angeles Kings had to come back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in overtime in a game that can only be described as an outright war.
In a game with so many ups and downs, the Kings showed off the resiliency that they’ve had all season in order to remain in first place in the Pacific Division.
“It was a lot of emotion in that game, a lot of twists and turns as the came unfolded,… said head coach John Stevens after the game. “There were lots of times where we could’ve just thought that it wasn’t our night, but I thought the guys kept digging in and finding different way to get back in the hockey game.…
The will and resiliency Steven’s is referring to comes from the fact that Kings went down 2-0 early and then 3-1, all while being down to five defensemen. Kurtis MacDermid received a five minute interference penalty and a game misconduct in what the officials deemed to be a late hit on Ondrej Kase.
“It’s unfortunate the kid got hurt,… said Stevens. “Dermie basically stopped and waited for him as he got rid of the puck, so he didn’t lunge, he didn’t come forward. “He basically was stepping up to make a play and waiting for him to hit him…
“I hope the kid’s okay and I hope the league sees it the way we did.…
MacDermid’s hit turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg as it was the Ducks’ game plan to annoy Quick as much as possible. This led to a few “meetings of the minds… around the net with Quick even getting involved.
With this in mind, the game was very much like a playoff game with big hits and players having to leave, get repairs, and come back on their next shifts.
“It was a tough game,… said defenseman Alec Martinez, who in particular was targeted with some big hits. “Any time we play the Ducks, especially in this building, it’s going to be an emotion, heavy, physical game.…
“I’m really proud of our guys, a lot of things didn’t go our way tonight but we stuck with it and we never wavered.…
Jonathan Quick had to do his best to keep his team in the game as the Kings were outshot 17-10 in the first period with many prime scoring chances by the Ducks early on. Quick was eventually rewarded when Kopitar scored with roughly three minutes left in the period to cut the lead in half.
Anaheim managed to get their two goal cushion back in the second period Rickard Rakell fired a puck from the boards past a distracted Quick. The Kings challenged the goal citing goaltender interference as it appeared that Corey Perry purposely stuck his leg out to make Quick lose his balance. However, it was ruled that Oscar Fantenberg initiated the contact so the goal stood.
Goals scored near the beginning of end of a period are momentum building or killing turning points of a game. The Kings going into this game had 11 goals that fit that description (not including empty net goals or goals late in the third when the game was out of reach) and Adrian Kempe added to that by scoring on a sharp angle shot with 59 seconds left in the second period to make it a one goal game.
That momentum paid off when Dustin Brown scored his eighth goal of the season early in the third period to tie the game. Five minutes later, Brown thought he had scored the go ahead goal but it was ruled no goal when the Ducks challenged it citing that Drew Doughty was offside in the zone entry.
The game took another weird turn halfway through the third when Ducks’ goalie John Gibson took a shot off his head that knocked off his mask. He was forced to leave the game and was replaced by Ryan Miller.
Los Angeles’ momentum continued throughout the rest of the game, out shooting the Ducks 17-6 in the third period and then 5-1 in overtime. It was just a matter of time before Brown and Nick Shore went in on a two-on-one where Shore sniped the Brown pass past Miller to win the game.
“It was a big game for us, it kind of took everyone,… said Shore after the game. “Guys don’t really care where [the goal] comes from in this room, as long as we get the two points everybody is happy.…
After this big when against the Ducks, the Kings now look towards Thursday night as they face the Atlantic Division leading Tampa Bay Lightning at the Staples Center. The Bolts have won six of their last eight games and will be on the back leg of a back-to-back as they face the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.