The Ducks (22-21-3) head up the freeway for the first of a back-to-back against the Kings (19-16-11). Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. PT and will air on Victory+ and KCOP-13.
In a change of pace, the Ducks will wear their home orange jerseys tonight while the Kings will wear their road whites. In tomorrow's bout at Honda Center, the Ducks will wear their road whites will the Kings will wear their black third jerseys.
Anaheim got back in the win column on Tuesday with a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars. Impressively, the team did it without their top scoring trio of Leo Carlsson, Troy Terry, and Cutter Gauthier.
“It was a complete game,” head coach Joel Quenneville said. “We talk about the check-first mentality, but we had pace in our game, we had support, we had puck time and we had zone time … The guys really stuck together and dug down deep, and got a big two points for us [that we needed] in the worst way, and against all odds.”
In the win, Beckett Sennecke continued his strong rookie campaign with the first game-winning goal of his career while extending his point streak to three games with six points in his last seven games.
With the recent win under their belts, Quenneville discussed how the Ducks are looking forward to utilizing the same skills and mentality against the Kings tonight.
“We want to have the same mindset like we’re playing Dallas,” Quenneville said. “It’s simple and going to be straight ahead and check and check. This team probably is the stingiest, is playing a patient team-game, and trying to create is going to get you in trouble. Last time in here, we got a little bit of an education so let’s be ready to go playing the same way as we played the last game and knowing that’s something to build off of.”
The Ducks have 10 games remaining before the Olympic break and out of those 10, eight games are against Pacific Division opponents.
Los Angeles is currently two points ahead of Anaheim in the division standings making tonight’s game crucial for the Ducks to gain some ground in a tight race. The two teams have split the season series thus far and will wrap it up on Saturday.
Despite being a familiar opponent, the Kings still present a variety of challenges and Olen Zellweger noted some keys to the game for his squad.
“They play really tight defensively and try not to give up too much,” Zellweger said. “Neutral zone and D-zone, they they’re kind of backing in, always having numbers back. We have a lot of guys that can handle that. [The Ducks can have success] just kind of playing behind them and making it hard for them to break the puck out, and not giving them any power plays.”
The Kings are 1-2-2 in their last five games, most recently falling to the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights on Wednesday.
Chris Kreider will be a game-time decision while Carlsson is “day-to-day” with a lower-body injury. Good news for the Ducks, Terry and Gauthier will be back in the lineup per Quenneville.
The team also announced Friday morning that the Ducks acquired left wing Jeffrey Viel from the Boston Bruins for a 2026 fourth-round pick.
