Ducks at Kings
The thought of Saturday afternoon's contest between the visiting Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings deciding first place in the Pacific Division would have been laughable two months ago. Los Angeles owned a 15-point lead over Anaheim on Jan. 2, but the Ducks are 24-4-2 since Christmas - 11-1-2 on the road - and riding a franchise record-tying 10-game winning streak which has moved them into a tie atop the division with the Kings.
"Obviously, I'm proud of the group from where we've come to where we are now," Anaheim's Ryan Kesler told reporters after Thursday's 5-1 victory in Arizona. "We all believed in this room." The Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf, the NHL's First Star in February after recording six goals, 14 assists and a plus-13 rating in 14 games, is expected to play Saturday after missing Thursday's contest with a lower-body injury. Los Angeles has won five of its last six games following Thursday's 3-2 victory over Montreal, scoring more than two goals for the first time in nine games. "It's going to be the biggest game of the year, and everybody knows that going in," Los Angeles left wing Dwight King told reporters. "We know what's on the line, so it's going to be pretty much playoff hockey. ..."
TV: 4 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket and FSN San Diego (Anaheim), FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (36-19-8): Anaheim, which is 17-1-1 in its last 19 games, is averaging 3.8 goals during its winning streak and no one is hotter than Corey Perry. He has five goals and three assists in his last three contests, including a hat trick in Sunday's 4-2 victory over the Kings, and a team-best 28 goals while his 49 points are second to Getzlaf (club-most 42 assists, 51 points). The Ducks have scored at least one power-play goal in every game during the winning streak and are an eye-popping 17-for-41 during that span with the unit rising to No. 3 in the NHL behind Washington and Chicago.
ABOUT THE KINGS (38-21-4): Milan Lucic had an assist versus Montreal to snap an eight-game pointless streak - his longest drought since a 19-game run during his 2007-08 rookie season with Boston. Right wing Kris Versteeg recorded two shots on goal and was a minus-1 in 10 minutes Thursday in his Los Angeles debut after he was acquired from Carolina on Sunday. Tyler Toffoli (team-high 24 goals) hasn't scored in six games and only twice in his last 19 contests.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles has yielded an NHL-low 143 goals with Anaheim second at 144.
2. Ducks D Simon Despres missed the last two games because of the flu.
3. Kings D Drew Doughty is third in the NHL in time on ice at 28:21, trailing Ottawa D Erik Karlsson (29:07) and Minnesota D Ryan Suter (28:36).