Preview: Ducks Visit LA for Season's Final Freeway Face-Off

The Ducks will head up the 5 Freeway tonight in search of their third straight win, taking on the rival Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena in the season's final Freeway Face-Off.

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Anaheim gets back to work tonight after the season's latest thrilling third-period comeback win, a 4-3 victory in overtime over Calgary last night on home ice. The Ducks trailed by two with four minutes to play in regulation, tying the game on goals by Frank Vatrano and Cutter Gauthier just eight seconds apart before Gauthier's second of the night brought the house down in OT.

"It’s awesome," Vatrano said of the comeback effort. "We’ve done it all year and we knew that was a big game for that team, so we just had to bear down on them. I’ve been in those positions before when you’re chasing a playoff spot and your sticks kind of get a little tighter and tighter as the score gets closer, so it’s a great team win."

"I felt when [Trevor Zegras] got the goal to make it 1-1, it kind of took some of the heaviness out of the game for us," head coach Greg Cronin added. "Then, to give up those two goals together was kind of shocking but the bench was positive, they were supporting each other. There was plenty of time left and good on us for coming back and winning."

Gauthier was the star of the night offensively with his second straight multi-goal game, moving into third place among NHL rookies in goals this season. The 20-year-old winger has collected eight points and a +7 rating in his last eight games and 17 points in his last 20 appearances.

"When he plays like he’s playing, the game is kind of slowing down for him," Cronin said. "He’s only got four games to play but I think he’s gonna be able to use this momentum the last four games. Clearly, he's a dynamic threat in open ice. He’s learning the balance between driving his legs wide or either cutting to the middle or curling up...He’s a coachable kid and he wants to be great. He's just going to keep getting better."

Anaheim also got a stellar performance in net from Ville Husso, who earned his first win as a Duck with 36 saves.

"He was amazing," Gauthier said of Husso. "Stood on his head for us, easily could have been a different game, different outcome, but he was special tonight and we're happy he's on our side."

The win pushed Anaheim to 35-35-8 on the season with four games left to play, all against teams bound for the postseason. The first of those final tests is a reunion with the Kings, as the Ducks hope to complete a rare Freeway Face-Off season won entirely by the visiting team. Anaheim captured a 2-1 shootout victory in February's trip to LA, backed by 44 saves from Lukas Dostal.

"LA is a very good team, especially in their building," Vatrano said. "They're just as structured, if not more structured, than [Calgary]. Can't be too stubborn, have to make the plays in front of us. If we turn pucks over, it'll kill us in the transition game. Have to play a hard 60 minutes. We've played well against them this year, so we've got to keep it going."

The Kings sit second in the Pacific Division, likely to take on the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth straight year. The Oilers have won the series in each of the last three seasons, but the Kings currently have the inside track to home-ice advantage despite a 2-1 loss to the Kraken Monday night. Veteran defenseman Drew Doughty and Joel Edmundson both missed that game with injury, with their status for tonight's game yet to be announced.