Kings vs Ducks Game 2: PDO-ing the PDucksO

The Kings had a great start in this game! Marian Gaborik, as if he hadn’t stopped scoring goals between games 1 and 2, shot one past Hiller just 34 seconds into regulation play.

 
Anze Kopitar picked up an assist, extending his 2013-14 playoff point streak to nine games. From there, things turned in the Ducks’ favor as Anaheim responded to the early goal against by playing harder. Taking penalties then tripped the Kings up finally, allowing Patrick Maroon to tie it during a 4-on-3 power play. The shot banked off of Jake Muzzin in front and slipped past goaltender Jonathan Quick.

A big play from the Kings’ second line and defenseman Alec Martinez helped put the Kings back on top. Smart work on the boards by Jeff Carter allowed the Kings to gain possession in the offensive zone after losing a faceoff. Tyler Toffoli was able to take a shot, recover the puck again with help from Carter, and then send a pass through Carter’s legs to Martinez, who beat Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller with a slapshot.

 
(The weirdest part of that video is the broadcaster being thoroughly convinced that the Kings and Ducks are playing game 3.)

At the end of the first period, the Kings were up 2-1 but had just barely out-attempted the Ducks at even strength. Overall the Ducks controlled the shots in the first and continued to for the rest of the night.

From Extra Skater:

Credit to the Kings’ defenseman: despite being outshot, they did a solid job of taking away quality lanes or keeping shots from Ducks’ players outside the scoring chance area. Anaheim only managed eight scoring chances at even strength. They had 45 total shot attempts at evens.

Special teams could have given them an edge, but the Kings’ penalty kill didn’t collapse after allowing the early power-play goal. On the few big breakdowns in the defensive zone, Quick made the stops to bail them out. Quick also got help from Justin Schultz in his first game on the blue line for the Kings, clearing one particularly bad rebound.

Also, while he was fairly quiet during game one, Corey Perry definitely showed up to be the wretch we all know and tolerate. First, he squirted water into Carter’s glove for no reason other than to be annoying.

Then, he went down easily in front of Quick, skates first. While Carter blew Perry off, Quick reacted by junk-punching Perry to the delight of everyone except Ducks fans.

Quick took a roughing penalty for his efforts. It was kind of a weak call, but the referees gave a make-up call not long after. And then in the third period, like a terror jumping out at children in the night, Dwight King appeared and scored an empty-netter to seal a second game for the Kings. Huzzah!

Now the Kings head to Staples Center up 2-0 in the series.