December 2 Rapid Reaction: Ducks 4, Kings 2

Postgame Quotes

Todd McLellan, on the “fight” shown in the loss:
Well, the ‘fight’ is the end part, and picking ourselves off the mat. Disappointed in the start, and it’s been that way on the road for a little while. We reflect back to the games where we won on the road, we came out swinging. We were a very aggressive team. It seems to me like we don’t bring the same energy on the road as we do at home. We take a lot of jabs, we get knocked down, we slowly pick ourselves off the mat and then it’s too late, and you can’t play that way. So, we’ve got some things that we need to address and to adjust to. I don’t know why it’s happening, but we certainly have to look at it. Now, the second part, as you mentioned, picking ourselves up and competing to the end is great, but we can’t do that for 41 games on the road, so we’ve got some issues we need to fix, and we will.

McLellan, on Nikolai Prokhorkin scoring after getting moved up the lineup:
I think you answered the question. Some good shifts, he got moved up, scored a great goal, had an impact on the game. Approached it like he wanted to move up in the game. We still had some guys at the end of the night that didn’t have a big impact, and they’re guys that we count on, and I understand there are some off-nights, but we’ve got to get more guys having on-nights when it comes to road games.

McLellan, on the benefit of having “such good goaltending”:
It helped us a lot. We had some really goaltending, and at the other end of the rink, I thought they had pretty good goaltending. I thought both teams’ fourth lines played really well, I felt both teams’ goaltenders played really well. That was a factor in the game. We were just one short when it comes to that.

McLellan, on anything underlying in a game in which thre fourth lines combined for three goals:
No, just grind it out and strong in the paint from both ends. Nothing special, but that’s usually the recipe for those players, and they played to what works for them.

Kyle Clifford, on the team’s challenges at the start of the game:
I think that’s probably why we lost the game, was our start. To win one on the road, you need a good start. Home teams like playing at their own building and they come out strong. So obviously we’ve got to play a little better in the beginning and I think that’s going to build momentum throughout the game.

Clifford, on the team settling down after the first period:
We focused in on three or four things that we wanted to be really good at tonight, and as the game went on we got better at that and we started winning those battles.

Clifford, on the forecheck getting the team into the game in the second period:
When everybody’s on the same page it’s amazing how successful it can be. One-on-one battles, getting pucks first, second-man support, it’s kind of a five-man unit out there.

Postgame Video

Postgame Notes

— With the loss, Los Angeles fell to 63-53-26 all-time against Anaheim, a record that includes a road mark of 25-32-15. The Kings are 4-5-2 in their last 11 road games of the series, with Monday’s game representing the third game of the span to be decided by more than one goal. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, the Ducks have scored 123 goals to the Kings’ 109 (shootout goals excluded) in 47 games. In that time span, the two teams have posted 20-19-8 (Los Angeles) and 27-13-7 (Anaheim) regular season records. These teams have four games remaining: February 1 and March 14 at Staples Center and December 12 and April 3 at Honda Center.

— With the loss, Los Angeles fell to 9-11-1 against the Western Conference, 4-8-1 against the Pacific Division, 1-4 in two-goal games, 2-12-1 when their opponent scores first, 0-11-1 when trailing after one period, 0-13-1 when trailing after two periods and 9-12-1 when outshooting their opponent.

— Since the start of the 2010-11 season, the Kings have scored 107 goals and the Ducks 119 (shootout goals excluded) in 46 games. In that time span, the two teams have posted 20-18-8 (Los Angeles) and 26-13-7 (Anaheim) records.

— Los Angeles attempted 73 shots (36 on goal, 14 blocked, 23 missed). Anaheim attempted 50 shots (20 on goal, 18 blocked, 12 missed). Derek Grant led all skaters with five shots on goal, while six Kings skaters (Iafallo, Wagner, MacDermid, Toffoli, Prokhorkin, Carter) tying with a team-high three. Prokhorkin finished with seven shot attempts; MacDermid finished with six. Joakim Ryan and Anze Kopitar were the only two Los Angeles skaters to end the night without a shot on goal.

— The Kings won 33-of-54 faceoffs (61%). Adrian Kempe won 0-of-1, Michael Amadio won 5-of-9, Anze Kopitar won 13-of-21, Alex Iafallo won 0-of-1, Blake Lizotte won 5-of-8, Nikolai Prokhorkin won 6-of-10 and Jeff Carter won 4-of-4.

The Kings are scheduled to practice at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 3 at Toyota Sports Performance Center.