2 studs, 1 dud from LA Kings dominant win over Anaheim

Coming out of the holiday break for Christmas earlier this week, the Los Angeles Kings (16-12-9) and head coach Jim Hiller got exactly what they were looking for in the offensive zone on that end of the ice on Saturday night (Dec. 27) against the Anaheim Ducks (21-15-2) in a dominant 6-1 win on home ice at Crypto.com Arena yesterday.

Alex Laferriere's hat trick leads the Los Angeles Kings to a convincing five-goal win over the division rival Anaheim Ducks on Saturday this weekend

Hiller and the Kings had two terrible game results this past week before the holiday break for Christmas, losing back-to-back games in the West on home ice vs. the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets at Crypto Arena and the Seattle Kraken this past Tuesday night (Dec. 23).

The offense found a major spark yesterday vs. the Ducks in the offensive zone, scoring a season-high four goals in the first period in the opening frame. It seems like the holiday break to reset and get back down to business for this past few days to find more success in the offensive zone in the Pacific Division.

In the game's first five minutes, the Kings already had goals offensively from defenseman Drew Doughty and Trevor Moore to take a comfortable two-goal lead on the scoreboard in the opening frame in the first period.

The Kings continued to press later in the first period in the opening frame, getting a nice goal from forward Alex Laferriere and center Quinton Byfield on special teams on the power play to jump out to a commanding four-goal shutout lead on the scoreboard before the opening intermission yesterday.

Anaheim pushed back with a goal in the middle frame in the second period from Mason McTavish. The Ducks scored a goal on special teams on the power play to cut the lead to three goals on the scoreboard for Hiller and the Kings.

But the Kings took complete control of the game on the scoreboard, with two more goals from Laferriere in the offensive zone in the third period in the final frame to complete the hat trick yesterday.

You could expect that the Ducks were going to fight back in this game in the middle frame in the second period yesterday after the Kings were so dominant scoring the puck in the opening frame. But the Kings locked down defensively in the game's third period in their own zone and got some timely offense from Laferriere late in the game in clutch time in the final frame.

Here are three takeaways from the Kings' dominant 6-1 win on home ice at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night (Dec. 27) vs. the Ducks.

Stud: Anze Kopitar, C

Center captain Anze Kopitar was responsible for helping to set up all three goals scored by Laferriere yesterday vs. the Ducks in the Pacific Division in his first career hat trick for the Kings' franchise last night. Laferriere has seen a boost statistically in the box score and on the stat sheet for the Kings in the past few games since joining the top-line forward core group with Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.

"Those guys were finding me in the soft ice the last two games so many times, and I wasn’t able to bury it for them. Tonight I was able to."

Alex Laferriere on Kopitar and Kempe

Kopitar and Kempe have helped to get Laferriere to contribute in a significant way offensively, and got him to exceed the standards and expectations that were placed on him this preseason a few months ago this fall for the Kings.

It was a big night for Kopitar, registering a season-high and game-high three assist markers for the Kings last night in the convincing five-goal win vs. the Ducks in the Pacific Division. He got much closer to the franchise record for the Kings for the most points in team history.

"I think last game against Seattle, we had some good chances, we just didn’t score. Sometimes, when we were on that extended streak of not being able to put the puck in the net, you get thinking and you get discouraged a little bit. To see a few go in early tonight, especially after a break, it’s obviously a good thing. Hopefully we can continue building on that."

Anze Kopitar