What did they call this series again? Freeway Faceoff?
VS. 
All of a sudden, the Anaheim Ducks look beatable.
They hope a visit to their struggling cross-town rivals can get them back to their winning ways.
Anaheim looks to avoid losing its third straight when it makes the short trek to Los Angeles on Thursday to face the Kings, whom the Ducks have beaten four straight times.
At the beginning of the new year, Anaheim (27-19-6) finally started to flash the form that helped win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history last season, going 8-0-1 to start 2008.
However, the Ducks have lost their last two games in regulation, following a 5-2 defeat at Dallas on Sunday with a 2-1 loss to NHL-best Detroit on Wednesday. The Red Wings scored a power-play goal midway through the first period and never looked back.
Los Angeles (19-29-2) owns the worst record in the NHL but has played better of late, going 7-5-0 in its last 12 games.
Like Anaheim, the Kings are coming off a loss to Detroit. Los Angeles suffered its fourth shutout of the season Tuesday as the Red Wings won 3-0 at Staples Center.
Things aren't about get any easier for the Kings as they look to climb out of the NHL's cellar. They begin an eight-game, post-All-Star break road trip Tuesday at Philadelphia, and won't play at home again until a Feb. 15 matchup with Calgary.
The Kings have a home record of 11-16-1, and their last 10 games is a record of 5-5.
The Ducks have a road record of 11-12-2, and their last 10 games is a record of 7-2-1.
After the All-Star Break, the Kings start an 8 game road trip. Starting with the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night at the Wachovia Center.
***If this is too much, let me know and I'll keep it shorter next time. But there may be some people who enjoy reading what the players/coaches are saying.***
"We made maybe three or four mistakes and they scored on two of them,’’
Dustin Brown said. "They’re one of those teams that have the ability to find a way to win games, and that’s what makes them one of the best teams in the league.’’
"They are the best team in the league for a reason," goaltender Jason
LaBarbera said. "They probably didn't have one of their better games, but they found a way to win. That's the reason they are in first place and we're not."
"We had some really good chemistry down in Manchester,''
Purcell said. "It's nice to be reunited with him. It shows our work down there has been noticed. I thought we had some pretty good chances early. Unfortunately, we couldn’t bury one but I thought we had some pretty good chemistry.''
"I probably should have had three goals tonight alone,''
Moulson said after the game. "I just need to bury my chances and take advantage of this opportunity.''
"It still keeps me from doing some moves and I can feel it on some turns,''
Frolov said. "Some days it's worse than others.''
"It's something that is going to take months of rest to fully heal,''
Frolov said. "I just have to play through it for now. In the offseason, I'll do all the treatment and try to get it fixed.''
Brad Stuart on Trade Rumors:
"I went through it last year. Any time you're an unrestricted free-agent-to-be, your name is going to pop up no matter your situation. I don't really worry about it too much at this point. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen.
"I like it here. It's a great place to play. It's tough when you don't win. That can make any situation miserable. But I don't think it's been miserable. It's just been a tough year. This is a great organization with fans that are looking for a winning team to really get behind. We just haven't been able to do that this year. But I like it here.
"Any time you get a chance to go to a good team and have a chance to win, that's good. You see it every year. I haven't really thought about that. I'm just kind of focused on what we need to do here to gather some wins. Anything else is out of my hands.''
Marc Crawford's comments on the game:
"That’s a team you really need to get a lead on if you’re a team like ours,’’
Crawford said. "We didn’t. We made one mistake in the second period and they ended up scoring on us. Down two goals, they really locked it up and checked us fairly effectively the last half of the game.’’
"Hopefully we learned we can play with those teams if we're all on. I thought we were all on for the first period and maybe a little bit of the rest of the game, but we need to be on the entire game against these guys. They just won't allow you to win unless you get a great game from your team. I thought we had six forwards who worked hard tonight. I thought most of the defense contributed and LaBarbera had his moments in net, made some saves especially in the second period to keep it close. But, as I said, they don’t allow you to win by just playing all right. We’ll have to play better to beat that club.''
"It's something to learn from that if skating and really being authoritative with them and concentrating on how you have to play, then you can be very successful. I thought the first period we did it but we didn't have enough to stay with it the entire three periods. I think the goals they got kind of got us out of sync and we have to work on that.''
Crawford on Purcell and Moulson:
"I thought they played very good. Moulson has very good hands and showed them in around the net. Teddy is a good playmaker and one of the forwards who definitely worked tonight. Playing against NHL defensemen of the caliber they were playing against was probably more demanding on them than it is on the American League level, but they played very well.''
"Purcell has got to get stronger and he will get stronger. He's a very young guy just realizing how strong NHL defenders are and it's always been my experience that when a young forward – and he's got a good frame – realizes he needs to get stronger then they go about making adjustments in the offseason. For the rest of this year, Teddy needs to continue to battle, keep his balance on the ice, keep his feet moving and do things with his lower body strength -- which I think is very good. But his upper body strength needs to pick up and that will make a huge difference for him in getting away shots in traffic and getting away shots with people draped all over you. He's the type of player who protects the puck well, a little like Frolov and maybe a little bit slicker. Frolov has that good strength so he can fend off the opposition's defenders. So we're looking for that type of improvement in Ted and I'm sure he'll get that as he gets older and more mature and definitely stronger.''
Crawford on playing the Ducks:
"We'll get the chance to watch them tomorrow night. It will be a tough game for them and I'm sure they got their focus now on Detroit and that big matchup. It should be a very good game and then hopefully Detroit takes a ton out of them and we’ll be able to mop them up.''
Los Angeles Kings
Mike Cammalleri (Injured ribs on 12/26/07) IR
Ladislav Nagy (Sore neck on 1/19/08) day-to-day
Brian Willsie (Sore lower back injury on 1/15/08) day-to-day
Anaheim Ducks
Samuel Pahlsson (Abdominal strain on 12/27/07) IR
George Parros (Bruised right knee on 1/13/08) IR
9/29/07 - Ducks @ Kings in London 4-1 (Kings win)
9/30/07 - Kings @ Ducks in London 4-1 (Ducks win)
11/13/07 - Kings @ Ducks 4-3 (Ducks Shootout Win)
11/15/07 - Ducks @ Kings 6-3 (Ducks win)
11/25/07 - Kings @ Ducks 3-2 (Ducks win)
Leading Scorers:
Forwards: 
Kopitar, LA - 45 points (18 G, 27 A, -13) |
Getzlaf, ANA - 57 points (19G, 38 A, +25) Defensemen: 
Visnovsky, LA - 27 points (5 G, 22 A, -18) |
Pronger, ANA - 35 points (10 G, 25 A, -1) GAA:
LA – 3.32 (29th in NHL)
ANA – 2.49 (7th in NHL)
Avg. Goals:
LA – 2.74 (15th in NHL)
ANA – 2.53 (24th in NHL)
Power Play %:
LA – 19.6 (4th in NHL)
ANA – 17 (19th in NHL)
Penalty Kill %:
LA – 78.1 (29th in NHL)
ANA – 81.3 (17th in NHL)
(As of 1/21/08)
Pacific Division Standings:
1. Dallas Stars (28-19-5) 61 pts
2. Anaheim Ducks (27-19-6) 60 pts
3. San Jose Sharks (26-15-7) 59 pts
4. Phoenix Coyotes (25-21-2) 52 pts
5. Los Angeles Kings (19-29-2) 40 pts
Western Conference Standings:
1 Red Wings 78
2 Stars 61
3 Flames 58
4 Ducks 60
5 Sharks 59
6 Wild 57
7 Canucks 57
8 Avalanche 56
9 Predators 54
10 Blue Jackets 54
11 Coyotes 52
12 Blues 51
13 Blackhawks 50
14 Oilers 49
15 Kings 40
Key/Division Games Tonight:
Islanders @ Bruins 4:00 PM PT | 7:00 PM EST
Canadiens @ Devils 4:00 PM PT | 7:00 PM ET
Penguins @ Flyers 4:00 PM PT | 7:00 PM ET
Maple Leafs @ Capitals 4:00 PM PT | 7:00 PM ET
Senators @ Lightning 4:30 PM PT | 7:30 PM ET
Oilers @ Panthers 4:30 PM PT | 7:30 PM ET
Thrashers @ Rangers 5:00 PM PT | 8:00 PM ET
Blue Jackets @ Blackhawks 5:30 PM PT | 8:30 PM ET
Sabres @ Stars 5:30 PM PT | 8:30 PM ET
Wild @ Avalanche 6:00 PM PT | 9:00 PM ET
Predators @ Coyotes 6:00 PM PT | 9:00 PM ET
Blues @ Sharks 7:30 PM PT | 10:30 PM ET
***GDT - Anaheim Ducks @ Los Angeles Kings - 1/24/08*** 
Watti
