Kings Pull Off Wild Comeback Against Anaheim
By Brook Smith
The Kings continued their winning ways on Tuesday night, downing Anaheim in overtime. It wasn’t easy though, as they had to overcome a 2-0 deficit early on.
The Los Angeles Kings found themselves in unfamiliar territory for the season on Tuesday night, as they were down early to the Ducks 2-0. After a flurry of hits and shots on goal, Anaheim had put up two goals just 13 minutes into the game. Those goals were from Sami Vatanen and Jared Boll, though Vatanen’s was literally as a power play expired.
Los Angeles began it’s comeback with a goal by Kopitar, as Iafallo intercepted a pass to get the play going. That would goal essentially end a very exciting first period. The Ducks led off the scoring in the second period, as Rickard Rakell scored with 5 minuted remaining in the period. The goal was contested by Los Angeles,as a Ducks defender was essentially on top of Quick on the shot. The call stood though, and Anaheim carried a 3-1 lead. Adrian Kempe countered with a goal of his own, his seventh on the season.
The third period was an exciting one, with plenty of shots and hits between the two teams. Dustin Brown would eventually tie up the game on a power play goal, assisted beautifully by Alex Iafallo. That goal came 6 minutes into the third, and the score would stay the same through regulation. There was a goal by Dustin Brown, but the call was reversed due to Drew Doughty being offside. There was another play in the period where Anaheim’s goalie got his helmet knocked off, and had to exit for concussion protocol. Unfortunately, Los Angeles couldn’t take advantage of the backup goalie Ryan Miller. Miller blocked all nine shots that came his way until overtime.
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In overtime, the Kings fired shot after shot against the backup, not scoring until the very last minute of overtime play. The final play of the game came when Nick Shore scored off of an assist from Dustin Brown, cementing the win for Los Angeles. The Kings are now 11-2-2, and are well into first place in their division. Los Angeles will meet up with Anaheim, who is now 6-6-3, four more times this season.
Moments That Mattered:
Early in the second period, Jonathan Quick found himself in the middle of a fight with Anaheim winger Corey Perry. Perry got into the crease a little too far, and Quick took exception to it. In the scuffle, the Kings’ goaltender lost his helmet, but appeared to be fine. Jonathan Quick finished with 33 saves, but he continues to struggle as of late. Over his past two games, Quick has allowed six goals.