Before the Four Nations Face-Off positions the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland as adversaries, Saturday’s Freeway Faceoff will send the Kings and Ducks into the NHL’s nearly two-week break for the tournament with a little more familiarity and, perhaps, a lot more contempt.
This will be the third butting of heads between the crosstown rivals in 2024-25, with the Kings prevailing decisively in the first meeting, 4-1, and excavating a 2-1 win out of a matchup that both sides felt could have gone the other way.
Of late, the Ducks have discovered their scoring touch, compiling 21 goals in the five victories among their past six games. The Kings have rediscovered theirs, firing in 10 goals in two matches, both victories, after mustering just four in their previous four games, all losses.
When asked about the difference in the Kings’ play after a six-goal outpouring against Montreal on Wednesday, their last game before a back-to-back set that pitted them against the Dallas Stars on Friday night and the Ducks on Saturday night, Coach Jim Hiller responded initially that, “the puck went in.”
The Ducks defeated Montreal on Sunday and Dallas on Tuesday, and Coach Greg Cronin offered a similar response after the victory against the Habs as to why the lowest-scoring team in the NHL this season was suddenly prolific.
“Partly [because we’re shooting more], and partly because they’re going in,” Cronin said.
Where neither team has made rubber meet nylon is on the power play.
The Ducks might consider declining penalties if this futility persists, while the Kings have struggled to draw them at all, much less convert with the man advantage.
Since Dec. 13, the Ducks are 5 for 65 on the power play, the league’s lowest success rate. To make matters worse, they’ve surrendered three short-handed goals in that same span, giving them a paltry +2 power-play goal differential (Winnipeg leads the league during that stretch at +22).
The Kings, who have cashed in on just five of 40 opportunities since Dec. 13, have not been significantly better, as their +4 mark is superior to those of only the Ducks and New York Islanders. The Kings and Isles are tied for the fewest penalties drawn in that time period, while the Ducks’ 88 infractions elicited (tied for 10th in the NHL) have at least given them chances.
At practice Friday, Cronin told reporters, who again saw a five-forward unit that made its ephemeral debut against Dallas on Tuesday, that assistant coach Rich Clune had attempted to “move things around to see if we can get some more production out of (the power play).”
The Ducks, who still rank 27th of 32 teams in five-on-five goals overall, have tied for eighth in that category since Dec. 13, while the Kings have moved in the other direction. Since that date, they’ve ranked 22nd in five-on-five scoring, dropping them from a tie for 12th to that point.
Two major reasons for the Kings’ relative buoyancy in the standings as their offense has sunk have been their fifth-ranked penalty kill and the play of goalie Darcy Kuemper, particularly since coming back from a second stint on the injury list. Since his Dec. 7 return, Kuemper placed fourth among established starters in both goals-against average and save percentage.
He and his wife Sydney welcomed their second son this week, having had their first in October of 2023 while Kuemper was playing for the Washington Capitals. Kuemper was in net for the win against Montreal but was set to be the backup against Dallas, making him the likely starter for the Kings on Saturday.
For the Ducks, Lukáš Dostál has won three straight decisions, while John Gibson backstopped their more recent triumph, a 2-1 affair against the Stars in his 500th career game. On the back end, captain Radko Gudas was dealing with an illness that left his status in question for Saturday’s bout.
DUCKS AT KINGS
When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
How to watch: FDSN West, KCOP (Ch. 13), Victory+