Kings-Ducks Preview

Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau says that his team will need

to play a “perfect game” to defeat the Los Angeles Kings.

Dustin Penner made his friends switch sides again in this

Freeway rivalry now that he’s back on the Anaheim side.

The Ducks still don’t have a regulation loss at home while the

Kings will be battling fatigue when these local rivals meet for the

first time Tuesday night.

Anaheim (18-7-4) leads Los Angeles (17-7-4) by two points, and

has played one more game. The Kings can forge a tie in the Pacific

Division standings if they can end the Ducks’ 10-0-1 run at

home.

Each team won twice among four 2012-13 meetings, with one of

Anaheim’s victories coming in a shootout. And even though

Boudreau’s club has more points, he is making this Los Angeles team

sound comparable to the Edmonton teams of the 1980s or the Montreal

teams of the 1970s.

“You have to play a perfect game,” Boudreau said. “They’re big,

they can skate, they got scoring, their special teams are good and

their goaltending whoever is in the net has been out of this

world.”

The goaltender will likely be Ben Scrivens, who is second in the

league with a 1.56 goals-against average after he made 25 saves in

Monday’s 3-2 home win over St. Louis. He is filling in for an

injured Jonathan Quick and Scrivens’ backup is Martin Jones, who

has never played in an NHL game.

”I feel pretty good. I don’t feel fatigued right now,” said

Scrivens, who is 4-0-1 with a 1.18 GAA in his last five road

starts. ”I know when Quickie will be back, or when he’s scheduled

to be back, so I’ve got to make sure I get my time when I

can.”

While Scrivens will be new to this rivalry, Penner is not.

Penner started his career with the Ducks between 2005-07, joined

the Kings on Feb. 28, 2011, and played with Los Angeles until he

signed back with Anaheim as a free agent before this season.

“I’ve played on both sides of this rivalry and there’s obviously

a lot of passion amongst its fans,” Penner said. “It’s probably

tough on my friends here because they have to keep switching teams

and justifying it so now they kind of seem hypocritical they’re

coming back to the Ducks side.”

Dustin Brown led Los Angeles with four goals against Anaheim

last season while Anze Kopitar led all skaters with six assists.

Surging Nick Bonino led the Ducks with four points – three

goals.

Bonino has seven points in his last six games, registering two

assists in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout defeat at San Jose. Corey Perry

has five points in a four-game streak.

Kings rookie Tyler Toffoli will get his first taste of this

rivalry after he scored twice Monday to help Los Angeles avoid its

first three-game slide.

Los Angeles is 0 for 20 on the power play over its last six

games while Anaheim has stopped its opponents’ last 18 chances with

the man advantage.

Boudreau figures to start Jonas Hiller, who is 8-3-0 with a 2.00

GAA in 11 home starts against the Kings.