Kings Center Anze Kopitar took a pass from Vladislav Gavrikov as he came out from behind the net and saw Adrian Kempe streaking down the right side. He threaded the needle between two Ducks defenders to feed Kempe, who slipped the puck past Lukas Dostal for the game’s first goal early in the third period.
“When you see (someone) has the puck on the boards with time and I feel like I have a D-Man on me that I can beat, I’m just going to take off,” Kempe said about his goal. “And these guys know it. They’ve found me so many times before.
Kempe’s goal on Sunday marked his 15th against the Ducks of his career, the most an NHL player has scored against them since 2020.
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Five minutes later, Alex Laferrière took a Ducks pass and added a second goal – ultimately the deciding goal – to seal a 4-1 victory for the Kings over their arch-rivals in the first road showdown this season.
“The good thing about the last goal was that (Alex Turcotte) was chasing his defender, and so he was forced to play maybe earlier than he wanted to,” said l Kings coach Jim Hiller. “So there are two guys on this. Laf scores the goal, Turk doesn’t get an assist, but it was just as important.
Despite a slow start to the first period, the Kings eventually settled down and dominated the game offensively, with 37 shots on goal. They won 62.3% of their faceoffs. Defensively, they limited the Ducks to just 15 shots on goal, with David Rittich making 14 saves, along with 11 blocked shots and eight putbacks.
Hiller was also pleased with his team’s discipline on the penalty kill, which kept the Ducks from scoring on any of their three power plays, an area he acknowledges they have grown in since preseason.
“There are times and certain scenarios where we’ve been a little more passive and waited for a trigger to put pressure on, whereas before we were kind of putting pressure everywhere,” Hiller said. “So I thought there were a few times tonight where we backed off, waited for a trigger, then moved back. So you know, they did a good job.
“I think we’re starting to understand this more and more. This is obviously an important part of the game, as it can really frustrate the other team. We have also been on the other side at times.
The Kings, coming off a 4-1 victory in Montreal, have won two in a row after losing their previous three. They have yet to play a home game in the regular season or preseason, as ongoing renovations at Crypto.com Arena pushed their home opener to Thursday.
With the Honda Center just 31 miles from the Kings’ home rink, this game was the first time the players were able to spend time at home all season. That means guys like defenseman Joel Edmundson, a young father, can savor every moment.
“I haven’t slept much the last few days, but my wife let me sleep in my own room last night, so (I) felt pretty good today,” Edmundson said.
They will have one more road game – Tuesday in Las Vegas – before hosting the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.
