PRESEASON FINAL – Kings 4, Ducks 0 – Moverare, Thomas, Hiller

The LA Kings took an initial lead in the first period and never looked back on Monday night in Anaheim, defeating the Ducks by a 4-0 score to improve to 3-0-1 in their first four preseason games.

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper stopped all 23 shots he faced in the victory for LA, including 10 in the opening period. His perfect play also helped the Kings successfully kill all four of Anaheim’s power play chances.

Kings goals came from Tanner Jeannot, Vladislav Gavrikov, Akil Thomas and Quentin Byfield, with both Jeannot and Thomas recording helpers for multi-point efforts.

The Ducks put some early pressure on the Kings at the start of the game, directing three shots toward the LA net in the opening 90 seconds of action. Kuemper dove to his left to stop the first, a point-blank look from Sam Colangelo, before a second opportunity rang off the post. He was able to stop play on the third chance, keeping the game scoreless.

Despite Anaheim controlling the run of play, LA struck first to take a 1-0 lead at 12:58 when Jeannot scooped up a loose rebound in front and swung it past Anaheim netminder Oscar Dansk. The first assist was credited to Jacob Moverare, who generated the rebound with a shot from the right point, while Thomas was credited with the second assist.

The Kings held the 1-0 advantage at the end of the first, despite being outshot 10-7 in the frame while killing off a pair of penalties.

LA took control of the game in the second, scoring twice in the first 5:10 of the middle period to open up a 3-0 lead. Gavrikov made it 2-0 at 1:22 by capping off a well-executed rush alongside Kevin Fiala and Warren Foegele. After Foegele made a perfect outlet pass to Fiala in the neutral zone, Fiala and Gavrikov moved toward the net and used a give-and-go play to open up room for a low shot that slipped under Dansk.

Moments later, Thomas extended the lead with his first goal of the preseason by driving to the net and directing a centering feed by Phillip Danault over Dansk’s glove. Jeannot picked up the second assist on the play, giving both he and Thomas a goal and an assist in the game.

46 seconds into the third, a shot by Byfield hit an Anaheim defender and trickled past the goal line, making it a 4-0 game. The goal came moments after LA’s second power play came to an end ad had assists from Jack Studnicka and Jordan Spence.

Dansk ended the game with 21 saves for Anaheim, who finished 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

More on tonight’s win below from Moverare, Thomas and Kings head coach Jim Hiller –

Jacob Moverare
On playing in his first preseason game of the season and being on the right side
It was interesting. I played on the right side before so I feel pretty comfortable there. If I get a game and it’s on the right side or the left side I don’t really care. I’m just happy to be out there and be able to showcase myself.

On the way the team played in the win
I think we had a good week and everyone was pretty confident and then we clicked out there pretty good so it was fun to be out there.

On the way his preseason has been going
I feel pretty good. I came to LA a little earlier just to get acclimated to the time zone and just everything so I feel really good.

Akil Thomas
On how he felt with his opportunity at the top of the lineup
I kind of felt better as the game went on. Legs felt a little heavy in the first but started making some plays and you feel good.

On scoring his goal in the second period
Really good pass by Phil. It’s definitely one of the best passes I’ve ever gotten. Just perfectly sauced, and no surprise, I was on the ice there, so just wanted to get on my feet and thankful.

On if he was expecting to get a chance to play with other linemates
I wouldn’t say I’m expecting, no. I would just say that part of what I want to offer is to be able to just plug into a line and contribute. So, I thought I did a decent job at that, and I just want to be a Swiss Army Knife in any way possible.

On his role in the penalty kill’s success
I’ve been a little frustrated with myself, just on a couple details, so I really wanted to finish that PK on a high note there, and just focus on the details there. Kind of felt good to get the puck out there and just to play strong in that little moment there.

Jim Hiller
On the team’s effort in the win
I didn’t like the first period. What I liked was how we came out in the second and third period. I didn’t think we played our game at all in the first period, but you saw kind of a refocus and come out and play how we wanted to play. And I thought when we did that, we were pretty effective.

On his team’s perfect night on the penalty kill
Yeah, I thought we did a lot of things well. Our stance, when they’re trying to attack us at our blue line, we were better there. We put more pressure. And then in zone, we really pressured well, I really liked the PK tonight, probably our best night of the four for the penalty kill. So, you know, it takes a little time. It’s a little different, little more aggressive, so it’ll take time, but we’re seeing some good strides there.

On the play of Mikey Anderson and Jordan Spence
I thought those two played really well together. Yeah, I really, you know, it’s not just me. We were talking in the coach’s office, we’re really happy with that pair tonight. I thought Jordan was a little bit more controlled, and sometimes he can get himself wandering all over the place. I thought he was just a little bit more controlled tonight. And Mikey’s best game. They were good. I thought they looked really good.

On the play of Akil Thomas in an elevated role
Well, he got going, didn’t he? I guess it’s that simple, right? You say get going and it just happens. That’s a good opportunity for him, to play with Phil and Jeannot. And so what do you do with your opportunity? And he took it and ran with it. Tonight was his best game. He looked more like he did when he played for us in the stretch run last year than he has at any other time since the training camp started.