VIDEO: Ducks Fall Behind Early, Lose 4-1

By Alan Negrete

The Ducks and Kings met up for the second time this season. A very strange season for both with low expectations on either end it now seems both the Ducks and The Kings have expectations to make playoffs and have a quest for the Cup! Though before that happens the Ducks must prepare to face the Kings!

The game started very defensive for both teams, with a handful of dump-ins for either side. Which made for a very closed game for the first 3 minutes and a half. After that a very important part of the game happens, Jakob Silfverberg proceeds to slam into Jonathan Quick for absolutely no reason and gets the first minor of the game for interference against the netminder. The Ducks kill the penalty, though with the kill came momentum for the Kings. Anaheim struggling for the next 3 minutes to get the puck out of their zone pay the price. Carl Grundstrom tips it in behind John Gibson to lead the game 1-0 after 7:58 minutes.

After some back and forth hockey on each zone, Isac Lundestrom puts himself in an awkward position next to the board that went from hockey hit to a scary hit which led him to go to the locker room shortly making him unavailable for the near future. Seeing this 1st period there is one thing that was for sure, out of both teams The Kings were by far the more aggressive team, with incredible forechecking on every square inch of the ice. The Kings make a mistake which costs 2 minutes with just under 2 minutes left on the period. You can hear Honda Center hoping this wakes the Ducks up by any means, though halfway through the powerplay the Kings stood their ground with takeaways in every opportunity. That is how the first period comes to a close which was a horrible start for the Ducks.

The Ducks start the 2nd period with 10 seconds of powerplay left from the minor in the 1st, which the Kings then easily defend against. With the penalty over the Kings then regain the momentum which the Ducks even failed to obtain even a sliver of. Though moments later the Ducks are trying to gain momentum by starting scrums in Quick’s crease. Sam Carrick and Quick both get minors which make it 4 on 4 hockey. After absolutely nothing from both clubs for just a little under 4 minutes, the Kings strike again! This time from the stick of Adrian Kempe who has been hot as of late with a laser one timer to beat Gibson glove side. Which then minutes later Trevor Zegras takes a controversial penalty for interference on the goaltender. Which the Kings totally take advantage of in less than 20 seconds scored by Andrei Kopitar on the powerplay making it 3-0 Kings in the middle frame.

Seemingly a blowout game the way the low energy Ducks have played the past half of the game getting into the middle of the game. With 7:09 left in the 2nd, the Ducks turn the puck over in front of Gibson to a red-hot player named Kempe who snipes it in makes it look easy with seemingly no defense in front of Gibson. Which unfortunately means it’s time to pull Gibson from net. The Ducks then get a penalty with less than a minute left in the period which means Kings start with 59 seconds of powerplay in the final frame.

The Anaheim Ducks killed the penalty and finally get something started. Anaheim strikes with a new gameplan, you get in the offensive zone? Shoot! Credit to Terry with three defenders on him and he still zips it past quick early in the final frame. With 10 minutes left in the 3rd one question haunts me. Do I still have time to switch to the Lakers/ Clippers game? Anyways all jokes aside the Ducks seem to have started too late. Hoping for a respectable score after an awful 2 periods of hockey and a decent 3rd.

In summary this game was definitely not the Ducks best game. This was an off night for the Ducks. It just stings more since it was against the Kings. Though off nights happen and you unfortunately don’t get to choose which nights they’ll be, luckily, they seemed to have a strong finish. Hopefully that momentum continues into the next game against the Islanders.

3 Stars of the Game

1st Star – Adrian Kempe

2nd Star – Anze Kopitar

3rd Star – Troy Terry

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the NY Islanders Sunday at 5:30 PM PT.

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February 26th, 2022