Anaheim Ducks triumph over Los Angeles Kings, 3-1: NHL Recap
Saku Koivu recorded a goal and an assist, as Anaheim Ducks held on for a 3-1 victory against Los Angeles Kings, at STAPLES Centre on Saturday night.
Francois Beauchemin and Brandon McMillan both also hit the net for Anaheim, which finished the regular season with 99 points (47-30-5) and has more non-shoot-out victories than the Nashville Predators and the Phoenix Coyotes, securing the fourth place
in the Western Conference.
Dan Ellis was strong between the pipes, turning away 43 shots, but just came up short in the shutout.
"I don't think anyone picked us to have home ice advantage at any point, but it's funny how things fall into your lap when you win your fair share of games," said Ducks' Head Coach Randy Carlyle.
Ryan Smyth found the back of the net for Los Angeles, which finished the game with 98 points (46-30-6) and currently sit in seventh spot in the Western Conference. Jonathan Quick allowed three goals on 20 shots in the losing effort.
"We had a chance to finish fourth and now we're seventh or eighth," said Los Angeles winger Dustin Brown. "But at the end of the day we're in the playoffs. It's a new season, everyone can hit the reset button and get ready to go because now all the
82 games are irrelevant."
The Ducks took command of the play by scoring the first three goals of the game.
The first goal came with about 6 ½ minutes left in the first period, when McMillan was trapped by two Los Angeles’ defenders in front of the crease, but he held controlled of the disc and fired it out of the air and past Quick for 1-0 lead.
Koivu gave Anaheim a two-goal advantage, 2-0, just a little over two minutes later. During a power play, he grabbed the puck on the left side of the ice and rushed from the right point to the top of the right circle and then skated deep into the circle
itself. He did so unnoticed by the Kings’ defender, and he take a Corey Perry's backhand pass from across the slot and one-timed it home.
Los Angeles got a good opportunity to cut the deficit in half in the middle period, when Brown intercepted a pass and skated up the ice on a short-handed break-away. But, Brown’s chance was wasted by Ellis’ poke check. Ellis then stopped Drew Doughty’s
blast shot with his pad seconds later.
The Ducks still had some time remaining on its power play to set up an attack and they made it 3-0 game midway through the second period. It happened so when quick puck advancement had Los Angeles scrambling to get into position, and Beauchemin took
advantage of it, snapping a shot from above the left circle that sailed past screened Quick.
Smyth finally drew Kings within a goal to make it two-goal game, 3-1, on a power play with about 1 ½ minutes to play in the second period, but Ellis made 10 saves in the final period to seal the win.
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