Anze Kopitar hauled in a pass from Vladislav Gavrikov as he came out from behind the net and saw Adrian Kempe streaking down the right side. He threaded the needle between two Ducks defenders to feed Kempe, who promptly got the puck past Lukas Dostal for the first goal of the game early in the third period.
It was an offensive breakthrough for the Kings, who had been aggressive all game but hadn’t quite found the back of the net. Five minutes later, Alex Laferriere picked off a Ducks pass and added a second goal — ultimately the deciding one — to all but seal a 4-1 win for the Kings in the first game of the rivalry this season.
The Kings dominated the game offensively, with 38 shots on goal compared to 15 for the Ducks. They won 67.3% of their faceoffs. They also won the battle defensively with eight takeaways.
This marks the second consecutive win for the Kings, who were coming off a 4-1 victory in Montreal after dropping their previous three. They have yet to play a home game, as ongoing renovations at Crypto.com Arena pushed their home opener back to Oct. 24. They’ll have to get through one more away game on Tuesday in Las Vegas before they host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
