PRESEASON FINAL – Kings 3, Ducks 1 – Clarke, Turcotte, Hiller

The LA Kings began their exhibition slate on a positive note, as they skated to a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA.

Early in the first period, Anaheim opened the scoring through forward Nikita Nesterenko. Skating down the right wing, Nestorenko worked his way into the right-hand circle and snapped a shot inside the far post, past Kings netminder Carter George on the stick side, for his first goal of the preseason and an early 1-0 Ducks advantage.

The Kings quickly answered, sending the game into the first intermission tied at one goal apiece. Defenseman Brandt Clarke was the facilitator on the play, as he made two nice moves activating in from the blueline, leading to a well-placed shot off the far pad. After Anaheim netminder Ville Husso made the initial save, forward Alex Turcotte drove the net and scored his first goal of the preseason to equalize through one period of play.

Los Angeles took its first lead of the game while shorthanded, early in the third period, pulling ahead 2-1. Turcotte and forward Alex Laferriere led a shorthanded rush, 2-on-1, and Turcotte’s extra effort worked the puck towards the front of the net, where Laferriere willed it over the goal line, scoring in his second consecutive Empire Classic to put the Kings in front.

With 86 seconds left in regulation, forward Andre Lee hit the empty net from the neutral zone, bringing the game to a 3-1 Kings lead.

Hear from Turcotte, Clarke and Head Coach Jim Hiller following today’s victory.

Brandt Clarke

Alex Turcotte
On playing shorthanded today and his experience in doing so throughout his career
Before I got to NHL, I obviously played a ton in Ontario and all the way up, so I feel pretty comfortable. Last year I was always in the meetings, watching, kind of just learning and taking notes and I feel pretty comfortable on ours. I feel like it’s definitely something I can bring to the game with my speed and smarts, so, yeah, I think it went pretty well. We scored on one of them today, but I think just reps and I think th coaches know I want to be on it, so hopefully I can work towards it.

On the opportunity that could bring him with extra minutes potentially
100 percent. Yeah, I want to help the team any way I can and obviously get as much ice time as I can. So I think, yeah, I’ve just got to earn it and keep going I think that’s a good start.

On his goal and the play Brandt Clarke made to set it up
He made a great play, he danced up at the top of the slot and I just kind of followed him to the net, just hoping he’d see me and he made a nice little pass off the pad and it was just right there for me. Got to get some garbage goals, that’s always good.

On his ability to play both center and wing
I think I just want to play as much as I can, so getting it anywhere, I feel pretty confident and comfortable. I played wing most of the year last year, so wherever they want to put me, I’ll be ready. Like I said, I have a lot of confidence in my game at both positions, so I know I’ll probably be all of the place at some point.

Jim Hiller
On his impressions today of forwards who are on the roster bubble during camp
Yeah. I mean, we got a pretty good read, I think, during the live action. We’ll go through the video, always, to really get it tight and see exactly how things worked in some tighter situations, but they all played well. You’re trying to separate, you don’t want anybody to play poorly, you just want to keep rising, but they all played well. I thought Killer maybe played one of the best games I’ve seen him play – Akil Thomas – so I was really happy for him, what a game.

On potential opportunities this season for Alex Turcotte and Alex Laferriere on the penalty kill
Yeah, I think there is. We’d like to try to find a couple more guys to get them into the rotation a little bit and those two are candidates for sure. Nice job today. I thought the whole PK, I don’t think we gave them much, for the other guys that was good, and that’s the goal that changes the game.

On his thoughts on a potential role for Turcotte this season with the Kings
We put him back at center, you can see that, so we want to give him a good run at center. We know he played very well for us on the wing, kind of took him out of his natural position, much like Q, it’s a hard job, center ice, when you’re that young. So now, get him back in there and he looks to be doing a good job. I don’t know exactly what that’s going to look like. You know, when you look at the success the top nine had last year, the second part of last year, those guys are going to get some leash for a little while, so you’re probably fighting for that starting job on the fourth line.

On Joel Armia’s first game with the Kings today
We wanted to get him out there and try to play him a fair amount. He played a fair amount, got him on the penalty kill as well, get him out there with Q. Those guys will probably end up playing a little more, typically don’t have a veteran of as many years as him in an opening game like this, but we want to get them up to speed with how we play as quick as possible. So, you might see him just play a little bit more in the exhibition than normally.

On his impressions of the Woolley/Brzustewicz pairing
It’s hard to believe that they’re a pair in juniors together, a couple hard guys to play against when I think about juniors. Both are big, both are competitive, both move the puck. When they go back, I’m sure they’re going to get big minutes for a good London team again. They’re developing really nicely.

The Kings have a full team day off tomorrow and will return to the ice on Tuesday, September 23 both for training-camp practice and for the team’s next preseason game that evening against the Vegas Golden Knights at 7 PM.