The LA Kings ended the preseason with a 5-2-0 record following today's 5-4 overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks in their exhibition finale.
The Kings opened the scoring inside the game’s first five minutes, with forward Quinton Byfield cashing in on the power play. Byfield, stationed in the bumper position between the circles, took a pass from forward Andrei Kuzmenko and got off a bit of a changeup of a shot, which threw off Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal and went in on the blocker side to get the hosts on the board early.
Midway thoruhg the opening period, the Kings made it 2-0 with an even-strength marker. Defenseman Brandt Clarke went D-to-D across the blueline, finding his partner Joel Edmundson for a one-timer from the right side. Edmundson’s shot was kicked out by Dostal, but forward Phillip Danault corralled the rebound with his skate, kicked it onto his stick and buried on his second attempt for a 2-0 lead.
Just before the end of the first period, the Kings made it 3-0 with Clarke and Danault adding another point to their game total. Danault fed Clarke down the left-side wall, allowing the defenseman to operate down low. Clarke, moving out from the goal line, found forward Warren Foegele at the back post for the slam-dunk goal as the Kings took a three-goal advantage into the first intermission.
After neither team found the back of the net in the second period, the Kings made it 4-0 early in the final frame of regulation. Some good puck movement in the offensive zone, started by defensemen Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin, ultimately found Dumoulin inching in from the left point. Dumoulin drew the pressure towards himself before he dropped the puck back to Danault for a one-timer from the center point for his second goal of the game and a four-goal lead.
Anaheim got on the board midway through the third period through forward Mikael Granlund. As he rounded the Kings net, Granlund went for a wraparound attempt that was initially not ruled a goal on the ice, though play was called back and the goal was awarded from the Situation Room in Toronto, as it had clearly crossed the goal line.
The Ducks made it two goals in under two minutes of game time as forward Leo Carlsson pulled the visitors within 4-2. Carlsson worked his way down the right wing, with a good move to generate some space with the puck, before he went short-side high on Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper to make it a two-goal game with 7:51 remaining in regulation.
In a span of just 27 seconds, Anaheim tied the game late in the third period to force things into overtime. Carlsson played the role of creator in both instances, as he scored his team’s third goal to make it a 4-3 game before his shot from the slot was deflected past Kuemper and in by forward Mason McTavish to tie the game at four. Carlsson finished the game with three points for the Ducks.
The game then went into overtime and after the Kings killed off an early penalty in a 4-on-3 situation, forward Kevin Fiala went on to score the game-winning goal. Fiala and Foegele executed a nice give-and-go play, with Fiala finishing on a one-timer from the right-hand circle to give the Kings a 5-4 win.
For post-game quotes from Danault, forward Joel Armia and Head Coach Jim Hiller, visit LAKingsInsider.com.
