Dustin Penner will get to see the other side of the Kings-Ducks rivalry for the first time tonight. Penner spent his first two seasons with the Ducks before signing with the Edmonton Oilers in 2007. While with Anaheim, Penner played 10 games against the Kings, with three goals and four assists, and had a personal 6-2-2 record against the Kings. Of course, facing the Ducks is nothing new, since Penner has done it for the past four seasons with Edmonton, and Penner said he doesn’t yet have a strong feel for the Kings-Ducks rivalry based on his previous experience.
PENNER: “I didn’t really have a fair shake of the rivalry, because it was my first year. Everything is fresh and new, and you’re not really concentrating on any rivals, really. You’re concentrating on staying in the lineup and playing well, so you’re not really getting a full feel for what it’s like. But I’ve been part of rivalries before, with the `Battle of Alberta.’ It’s going to be a hell of a game, this one and the next two against them. These points mean a lot to both teams. I can’t imagine it being a boring game for the fans tonight.”
Penner remains friends with former Anaheim linemates Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and said he expects an intense game tonight.
PENNER: “If it’s anything — like I imagine it would be — like the games we’ve had since I got here, it’s just the intensity you’re going to have with teams in the playoff hunt, trying to distance yourself from the teams below you and trying to catch other teams. It’s magnified because it is the 405 rivalry, or whatever you want to call it.”
The Kings-Ducks rivalry is not new to Terry Murray, who is in his third season of it, but Murray was asked today whether this would be the biggest Kings-Ducks game he has been a part of, to date…
MURRAY: “I would say probably it is. The first year, we were just kind of feeling our way as a group. This is a game that has great meaning, with playoff implications for everybody, for a lot of teams. It’s a very big game. It’s a rivalry that is starting to get bigger, more important, and that’s a good thing. I like those. It brings out the best in everybody. So it’s an exciting game to look forward to.”
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