Anaheim's 4-2 victory at Honda Center came against a team made up mostly of Kings hopefuls, but it was nevertheless a nice bounceback after two defeats to open the preseason in which the Ducks were outscored 10-1.
The Ducks had a lineup made up of at least a dozen guys likely to be on the opening night roster, including starting goalie John Gibson and notables Andrew Cogliano, Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg, Kevin Bieksa and Francois Beauchemin. The real Kings, on the other hand, are in China playing two exhibition games against the Vancouver Canucks, so their lineup at Honda Center mostly resembled the one that will be with their AHL affiliate in Ontario this season.
Both Rakell and Silfverberg had goals as the Ducks came back from an early deficit in this one.
The Kings got on the board first, just short of halfway through the first period, when Justin Auger put in a rebound on the power play.
Anaheim went Swede-to-Swede to get even 8:21 into the middle frame, as Silfverberg shuttled the puck across the top of the crease to Rakell for the tap-in.
Offseason acquisition Ryan Miller had his first appearance in the Ducks net with 8:01 left in the second period and gave up a goal on 10 shots while going the rest of the way.
The Ducks took their first lead of the preseason with 4:10 left in the period when a point shot by young d-man Jaycob Megna slipped through a crowd and got past goalie Cal Petersen.
Anaheim bumped the lead to two with 4:48 left in the game, as Chris Wagner's wraparound try slipped off his stick blade, but prospect Mitch Hults was right there to scoop it in.
LA got within a goal with 1:34 remaining when Matt Luff's attempted pass across the crease got under and behind Miller.
The Kings emptied their net after the ensuing faceoff, and Silfverberg ultimately made them pay. He actually missed the net with his initial shot but gathered it in and sent the puck over the stripe just as the Kings knocked the net off its supports.
The Ducks will play their third straight home game of the preseason Sunday in the first-ever visit of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to Honda Center.
