Ducks tip Kings, claim 5th straight division title
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Shea Theodore scored 53 seconds into overtime to give the Anaheim Ducks the Pacific Division title with a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night at the Honda Center.
The Ducks are the seventh team in NHL history to win five consecutive division titles. The most recent team to accomplish the feat was the Vancouver Canucks, who captured the now-defunct Northwest Division from 2009 to 2013.
Patrick Eaves, Antoine Vermette and Nate Thompson scored for the Ducks, who received three assists from captain Ryan Getzlaf. Goalie Jonathan Bernier stopped 15 shots.
Anaheim (46-23-13) will open the postseason this week against the Calgary Flames (45-33-4). The Ducks have won 25 consecutive regular-season home games against Flames -- the longest such streak in NHL history.
Defenseman Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown and Kyle Clifford scored for the Kings (39-36-7), who received 20 saves from goalie Jonathan Quick.
Getzlaf began the scoring sequence for the winning goal by shooting the puck between the legs of Los Angeles' Tanner Pearson on a faceoff from the right circle in Anaheim's zone.
Rickard Rakell outraced two defenders to the puck along the left boards and passed to a wide-open Theodore, who fired a rising wrist shot from the slot that banked off the right post for his second goal of the season.
Brown broke a 2-2 tie at 7:55 of the third period. Derek Forbort one-timed a rising slap shot that Jarome Iginla deflected to Brown, who redirected it inside the left post for his 14th goal.
Iginla's assist gave him 1,300 points for his 21-year career.
But nearly four minutes later, Thompson forced a 3-3 tie with his first goal of the season. From the right post, Thompson redirected Brandon Montour's pass from the right corner. The puck deflected off Quick's glove and slowly slid inside the post at 11:34.
Thompson missed the season's first 3 1/2 months after tearing his Achilles' tendon during the summer.
The Ducks exploited a turnover to take a 1-0 lead 28 seconds into the game. A pass from Doughty hit the back of teammate Anze Kopitar's skates. Getzlaf pounced on the loose puck and passed to Eaves, whose wrist shot from the right circle deflected off Quick's right shoulder and the underside of the crossbar.
Eaves' 32nd goal was his ninth in the past 12 games and his 11th since coming to Anaheim from the Dallas Stars in a trade on Feb. 24.
But the Kings, who registered just one shot on goal in the first 11 minutes, used Doughty's power-play goal to tie the score with 8:40 left in the first period. Doughty fired a slap shot from the right point for his third goal in the past four games and his 12th of the season.
Anaheim had a chance to tie the score with 3:42 remaining in the period. Andrew Cogliano poked the puck inside the right post but Quick gloved the puck while flat on his back. Since Quick extended his glove behind the goal line, the play led to a video review, which determined that the puck did not completely cross the goal line.
Loud booing followed the decision's announcement.
The Ducks regained a 2-1 lead when Vermette scored on a power play at 9:53 of the second period. Positioned behind the net, Rakell made a behind-the-back pass to Getzlaf at the right post. Getzlaf passed quickly to Vermette, who scored his ninth goal on a wrist shot as he fell in front of the crease.
Clifford's sixth goal tied the score with 4:04 left in the period. While in front of the crease, Clifford used the blade of his stick to make a backhanded deflection of Kevin Gravel's shot from the top of the slot inside the right post.
Quick again kept Anaheim from moving ahead 2 1/2 minutes into the final period, using his right skate while falling to stop Rakell's shot at the left post after Rakell skated past three defenders.
NOTES: Play-by-play announcer Bob Miller, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000, broadcast his final game after 44 years with the Kings. Miller, 78, announced his retirement in March after suffering a mild stroke in January. ... Los Angeles scratched C Jonny Brodzinski, LW Adrian Kempe, D Paul LaDue and C Jordan Nolan. ... Anaheim LW Nick Ritchie served the first of his two-game suspension for punching Chicago Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival during Tuesday night's 4-0 win. Ritchie also will miss the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs. ... Besides Ritchie, the Ducks scratched D Cam Fowler, D Korbinian Holzer RW Jared Boll and D Jaycob Megna. ... Ducks LW Rickard Rakell ended the season leading the NHL with 10 game-winning goals. ... Ducks D Hampus Lindholm and C Nate Thompson returned to the lineup.