Kings 3, Ducks 2
Defenseman Willie Mitchell scored to snap a tie nearly seven minutes into the third period and Jonathan Quick turned aside 25 shots as the Los Angeles Kings recorded a 3-2 road victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday in a battle of Pacific Division rivals.
With the win, Los Angeles (33-23-4) pulled into a four-way tie for fifth place in the ultra-competitive Western Conference standings. The Kings are now level with the Minnesota Wild (32-22-6), Nashville Predators (31-21-8) and Calgary Flames (31-23-8) with 70 points.
Ryan Smyth netted his 20th goal of the season for the 11th time in his career, All-Star Anze Kopitar also tallied and Justin Williams notched two assists as Los Angeles wrapped up its 10-game road trip with a 6-1-3 mark.
With the game tied at 2-2, Mitchell collected his second goal of the season - and first since Oct. 28 - when he beat Curtis McElhinney at 6:45 of the third period.
Quick made the advantage stand up to improve to 8-1-1 in his last 10 outings and 6-2-1 in 10 career appearances against the Ducks.
Teemu Selanne scored to move past Joe Sakic for 14th place all-time with his 626th career tally and Corey Perry also scored for Anaheim (32-25-4), which has dropped four in a row after winning 14 of 18 contests.
McElhinney fell for the fourth straight time while playing in place of All-Star netminder Jonas Hiller, who is dealing with a recurrence of fatigue and lightheadedness. McElhinney made 15 saves in this one.