LOS ANGELES >> The “Freeway Faceoff” had low stakes Saturday at Staples Center, as a 3-1 win for the Ducks did little more than maintain the Kings’ sole possession of last place in the Pacific Division.
A Kings win would have moved the two teams into a points tie. But before it was a battle in the basement, this rivalry had been a confrontation between two of the NHL’s top teams. It reached its pinnacle in 2014. Then, they squared off at Dodger Stadium in the first ever outdoor game in California, and later they met in a fierce seven-game, second-round playoff series that sent the Kings on to their second Stanley Cup.
Left wing Max Jones, center Derek Grant and defenseman Jacob Larsson scored for the Ducks, giving them a goal from their fourth forward line and another from their third defensive pairing. Right wing Tyler Toffoli scored for the Kings.
Ryan Miller earned the win by turning away 45 shots, while Jonathan Quick stopped 25 of 28 Ducks bids.
“He was unreal. He looks like a 25 year old in there tonight,,” Grant said of the 39-year-old Miller. “They throw a lot of pucks at the net. Those are tough for a goalie, especially from weird angles. He controlled all of them pretty well and didn’t give them any second chances on them, which is tough to do.”
Miller earned career victory No. 384, which placed him one shy of Mike Vernon for 15th on the NHL’s all-time career wins list.
Anaheim darted out to a 9-2 shot advantage less than six minutes into the game. On their ninth shot, Jones’ backhand shot gave them a 1-0 lead. Sam Steel fed Jones from behind the net. Jones reached the Kings’ doorstep unmolested after a failed clear and a scramble left the Kings, including defenseman Ben Hutton, out of position.
The first period had a quick pace but no further scoring.
Nearly three minutes into the second period, Grant tipped in a lively wrist shot by defenseman Cam Fowler to double the Ducks’ lead. The goal was Grant’s 11th and placed him one shy of his career high.
Grant nearly added a second goal shorthanded, but could not totally control the puck while weaving to the front of the net.
The Ducks had played the night before in a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, magnifying the importance of a good start.
“We jumped on the offense in the back-to-back. It’s always good to get on that side of things in the first half of the game,” Miller said.
On the same power play, Hutton hit the post and the Kings came up with nothing from their time with an extra skater.
That proved costly as Anaheim scored as soon as the Kings reached even strength. Larsson sent a long shot from the left corner of the offensive zone through traffic and into the far side of the net to add to Anaheim’s advantage.
“Our start definitely wasn’t good, I thought we got better in the second half of the first period and then we got caught snoozing in the second period,” Kings captain Anze Kopitar said.
The most excitement for the home crowd came when Kings defenseman Kurtis MacDermid and Ducks left wing Nicholas Deslauriers squared off in a rematch of their fight in Anaheim on Dec. 12.
Toffoli scored an unusual goal with 2:39 left in the middle period. He let fly a knuckling shot from the right circle, which got through Miller narrowly and slowly trickled into the net behind him. It was initially waived off for suspected goaltender interference but counted upon video review.
The Ducks weathered a third-period push that was fairly typical of the Kings’ attempts at late surges this season. Unlike their effective rally at Arizona Thursday, the Kings returned to a shot-heavy, danger-light effort, though they did test Miller intermittently. They out shot the Ducks 18 to 4 in the third period, but managed neither a goal nor a particularly near miss among them, including during nearly four minutes of action with Quick pulled for a sixth skater.
“(The chances were) good and bad, but obviously not good enough to score. I can’t answer that by saying they were excellent,” McLellan said. “I can live with the third period, for me it was the beginning and the lack of intensity.”