Ducks 4, Kings 2
LOS ANGELES – Left winger David Perron scored a goal and two assists, and center Ryan Getzlaf scored a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 4-2 on Thursday.
Anaheim (24-18-7) solidified its hold on the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division, moving two points ahead of the fourth-place Arizona Coyotes. The win was its fifth straight and seventh in the last eight games.
John Gibson stopped 23 Los Angeles shots as the Ducks evened the season series between to the teams at 1 all.
Los Angeles (32-16-3) lost for the fourth time in its last six games and saw its lead in the Pacific Division reduced to five points over the second-place San Jose Sharks.
Jonathan Quick took the loss for Los Angeles, stopping six of the nine shots he faced before being pulled in the second period.
Alec Martinez scored his seventh goal of the season at 19:36 of the third period to close out the scoring.
The Ducks re-established their three goal lead at 4-1 on defenseman Hampus Lindholm's fifth goal of the season on the power play at 9:57 of the second period. Lindholm drifted in from the blueline and powered a slap shot past Jhonas Enroth with center Ryan Kesler and left winger David Perron drawing assists.
Los Angeles drew to within 3-1 on right winger Tyler Toffoli's 23rd goal of the season on the power play at 4:15 of the second period. Defenseman Drew Doughty's shot from the point deflected off an Anaheim player then fluttered off of Toffoli's skate to beat Gibson, who never saw the puck.
The Ducks took a 3-0 lead on left winger Ryan Garbutt's fourth goal of the season at 2:41 of the second period. Right winger Chris Stewart lofted a pass from inside the Anaheim zone to Garbutt at center ice and his wrist shot beat Quick over his left shoulder from 31 feet. Quick was replaced by Enroth after the score.
The Ducks extended their lead to 2-0 on Perron's seventh goal at 13:19. Getzlaf gained possession at center ice off a turnover and his lead pass glanced off of Perron's skate at the top of the goal crease for the goal. It was Getzlaf's 500th career assist.
Anaheim took a 1-0 lead on Getzlaf's fourth goal of the season at 8:59 of the first period. Perron took possession off a Los Angeles turnover inside the Anaheim zone and sped off on a 2-on-1 break to feed Getzlaf for a snap shot that beat Quick from 23 feet.
NOTES: Anaheim did not dress D Korbinian Holzer and LW Harry Zolnierczyk. ... The Ducks have three games remaining with their Freeway Faceoff rival Kings (Feb. 28, March 5 and April 7). ... Anaheim leads the NHL in penalty killing percentage, entering Thursday with an 89.6 percent success rate. ... Los Angeles scratched D Christian Ehrhoff, C Andy Andreoff and C Jordan Nolan. ... The Kings activated LW Kyle Clifford from injured reserve. Clifford missed 24 games with an upper-body injury. ... Los Angeles starts a season-long seven game road trip Tuesday in Boston with one of the best road records in the league (16-7-2). The trip is an annual trek because of the Grammy Awards taking over Staples Center with the next home game not until Feb 23.