Ducks at Kings
The Anaheim Ducks have wrapped up the Pacific Division title and suddenly find themselves in position to snatch the top seed in the Western Conference entering Saturday night's matchup at the Los Angeles Kings. The Ducks, who hold a one-point lead over St. Louis and Colorado, can clinch the No. 1 seed with a victory over Los Angeles or by beating the visiting Avalanche on Sunday. The matchup with Colorado will also mark the final regular-season game of Teemu Selanne's storied career.
Los Angeles, which will face San Jose in the opening round of the playoffs, salvaged the finale of a four-game road trip with a 3-0 shutout of Edmonton on Thursday night to tie a franchise record with its 46th victory. "Right now we just want to sharpen our game for pretty much a week from now so we're ready to go in the playoffs," said forward Anze Kopitar, who scored his 200th career goal and added an assist Thursday. The Kings have scored only twice in dropping the last three to Anaheim.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, KDOC, Prime Ticket
ABOUT THE DUCKS (52-20-8): A late-season slide by St. Louis opened the door for Anaheim to secure home-ice advantage in the West - no small matter given that the Ducks opened the campaign by going 20-0-2 at the Honda Center. While Selanne will sit out against the Kings to rest for Sunday's regular-season finale, Corey Perry hopes to continue a torrid pace that has produced seven goals and 15 points in 11 games. "He's engaged in the game, his passion is very strong," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "He wants to be the best. There's an inner drive in him a lot of people don't have."
ABOUT THE KINGS (49-22-9): Marian Gaborik, a trade-deadline acquisition from Columbus, continues to ratchet up his offense game heading into the postseason by registering points in eight of the last nine contests. Gaborik missed a hat trick due to goaltender interference but still had his first two-goal game of an injury-riddled season and a three-point night in the victory at Edmonton. Defenseman Drew Doughty has missed the last two contests with an upper-body injury, halting his consecutive game streak at 199, and said it's a coach's decision if he plays Saturday.
OVERTIME
1. Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf has 14 points in his last 12 games.
2. Kings G Jonathan Quick, who has lost his last two starts, is 13-7-2 lifetime against Anaheim.
3. Ducks rookie G John Gibson won his first two career starts with Frederik Andersen sidelined with an upper-body injury.