FINAL – Kings 1, Ducks 2 (OT) – Lewis, Doughty, Hiller

The LA Kings extended their point streak to four games but came up just short in the shootout, falling 2-1 against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday evening at Crypto.com Arena.

After two periods came and went without a goal, Anaheim finally opened the scoring just over seven minutes into the third period. Defenseman Brian Dumoulin took a pass from his defensive partner Jacob Trouba, moved into the left-hand circle, picked his corner and shot off the post and in for his first goal of the season, putting the visitors ahead with the game’s first goal.

With fewer than three minutes remaining in regulation, the Kings finally found an equalizer through forward turned defenseman Adrian Kempe. Skating on the blueline with the Kings chasing a goal, Kempe and forward Phillip Danault executed a give and go through the neutral zone. Kempe flew in towards the net, got the return feed from Danault and placed a backhanded shot through the legs of Anaheim netminder Lukas Dostal, just over the line and in for his 25th goal of the season and a 1-1 score.

The teams progressed into overtime and for the second straight game, neither team found the back of the net. With the two teams heading to a shootout, the Kings were unable to get the job done as they did yesterday, falling after goals scored by forwards Trevor Zegras and Leo Carlsson.

Hear from defenseman Drew Doughty, forward Trevor Lewis and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s game.

Trevor Lewis

Drew Doughty
On his takeaways from tonight’s game
We didn’t play very good, I don’t think, in the first. I think they hadn’t played since Tuesday, we were on a back-to-back, a lot of times that seems like an advantage to the back-to back team, but we came out a little flat, didn’t have the energy needed. Second and third we were much better, I thought we kind of dominated the game for those two periods. Their goalie played well, our goalie played well. We weren’t at our best but we didn’t play terrible.

On David Rittich’s game tonight, giving the team a chance to win
He played great. I think his last three outings have been really good, going back to Tampa. We could have easily lost that game by a large margin. David is a competitor, he tries his butt off out there every night and he cares about winning. That’s all you can ask out of him.

On getting the call to play in the 4 Nations Faceoff next week
I got the call today, right before my nap. Exciting, exciting day. I’ve had this on my mind ever since I’ve come back and put a little bit too much pressure on myself to perform at a very high level. The game was kind of up and down and ever since I knew I had a really good chance the last two games, I got back to myself.

On how he feels physically, coming off 3 games in 4 nights
I feel good. I finally feel like I’m not getting tired in games, the last two games, I’ve felt fresh and I played a lot of minutes and felt good. I’m happy that I’ve turned the corner.

On Trevor Lewis finally getting honored for his 1,000th game
I mean, I wasn’t happy, obviously, but I wanted to be out there with him for it. I wish I was there for the actual 1000th game, but yeah, that was crazy, all these setbacks, his family’s been here like four times. Very happy for him and his family. He deserves it so much.

*More on Doughty & 4 Nations to come in the morning.

Jim Hiller
On his takeaways from tonight’s game
I didn’t really like our game through 40 minutes at all, but give them credit, we got it together for 20 minutes at least. Came up a little short.

On what he felt was perhaps lacking over the first two periods tonight
I didn’t really like us anywhere over the ice for the first 40 minutes. I mean, we can point to different things or make excuses, I don’t look at it that way. We just weren’t very good, it was disappointing, but we did get it together in the third period and I’ve got to give the guys credit for that.

On the energy of the team tonight versus the connectivity
I just don’t think we were ready to play as hard as we needed to, as hard as we had to physically. I think it took us some time to get into the game and understand how hard it is and was going to be. That, to me, is where it was, it’s mental. It’s partly physical, but [the mind] drives [the body], and I think until [the mind] got right, we weren’t very good.

On turning to Adrian Kempe as a defensemen with the team trailing in the third period
Time was running out, so we don’t like to do that necessarily, but I think we did it when it was like five minutes left or six minutes left. When we put him on defense, we can get him out every second shift, it’s hard to do that as a forward sometimes, unless there’s whistles. He’s dangerous, so we put him out there.

On seeing Drew Doughty named to Team Canada during the first period
Yeah, wow. I mean, wow. That’s the reputation, that’s the pedigree, that’s the resume, all in one. To get announced for that, you’ve got to be a special player, you know what I mean, and thought so highly of by Hockey Canada, Team Canada, everything he’s accomplished so far. Awesome for him and I look forward to watching him play.

On the factors that go into a player like Trevor Lewis playing 1,000 career NHL games
There’s so many and I think in Lewie’s case, you know, sometimes you’re just a star player and you’ve been better than most everybody in the world in your age group for 20 years plus, so there’s that element. Then there’s other guys who just have to find a way to stay in the league, find a way to stay wanted, find a way to stay important on a team. It used to be that you can play until you’re 37, 38 years old. Now, you’re a unicorn if you play to that age, and I think it just gets younger every year. To be able to survive, you’ve seen it, we watched [the video], I don’t have to repeat it, I think his teammates say it the best. Just a special guy, special player.

Notes –
• Winger Adrian Kempe (1-0=1) scored his 25th goal of the season, becoming the first Swedish-born skater, and the 14th Kings skater overall, to reach the quarter-century mark in four consecutive seasons. With the goal, Kempe has now recorded seven points (2-5=7) over his last seven games against the Ducks, dating back to Nov. 24, 2023.
• Kempe (25-21=46) also ties Rickard Rakell (25-23=48) for the second most goals scored by a player of Swedish nationality this season.
• Forward Warren Foegele (0-1=1) recorded his 14th assist of the season and has found the score sheet in all three of the Kings’ matchups during this homestand (2-2=4).
• Forward Phillip Danault (0-1=1) recorded his 23rd helper of the campaign, closing the gap between himself and Anze Kopitar (32 A) for the most assists amongst all Kings skaters this season
• Kopitar skated in his 709th career home game tonight, tying Stan Mikita for the 40th most in NHL history. Tonight’s game also marks Kopitar’s 92nd career game against the Anaheim Ducks, surpassing Joe Thornton (91) for the fourth most in League history.
• Defenseman Drew Doughty skated in his 36th career home game against the Ducks tonight, tying Derek Morris, Darryl Sydor, Nicklas Lidstrom and Rob Blake for the third most in League history.

With the conclusion of tonight’s contest, the LA Kings officially enter the League’s 4 Nations Face-Off Break (Feb. 10-20) and will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 6:00 PM.