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.