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Kings of the road: L.A. beats Anaheim, takes 2-0 series lead

KingsDucks

It wasn’t pretty, but it was highly effective.

The Kings got the job done on Monday at the Honda Center, scoring three times on 17 shots while stifling Anaheim’s top scoring threats for a huge 3-1 win in Game 3 of their second-round series.

With the victory, L.A. has successfully gone into Anaheim and not just taken home ice advantage, but ripped it away -- the Ducks now face the unenviable task of having to win four of the next five games, two of which must come at the Staples Center.

The majority of tonight’s scoring came in a 12-minute span during the first period, starting when Marian Gaborik scored his sixth of the playoffs -- and third of this series -- just 34 seconds in. Nine minutes later, Anaheim evened the score on the power play when Patrick Maroon scored his second of the postseason on an assist from Ryan Getzlaf.

But three minutes after that, L.A. scored what proved to be the game-winner.

Defenseman Alec Martinez notched his second of the playoffs on assists from rookies Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson... and that was pretty much it for offense from Los Angeles for the night, save Dwight King’s empty-netter with 58 seconds left. In addition to scoring two markers in the first period, the Kings also put eight of their 17 shots on goal in the first, registering five and four in the second and third periods, respectively.

L.A. sacrificed offense for defense over the final 40 minutes, and the plan worked. While the Ducks ended up with 37 shots on Jonathan Quick, most were from the perimeter and quality scoring chances were few and far between. What’s more, the Kings did a masterful job of clearing the front of net and denying second-chance opportunities.

For Anaheim, there will be frustration over how things transpired in Games 1 and 2. The Ducks blew a golden opportunity to win the series opener by allowing the Kings to tie it up with seven seconds left, then win in OT; in Game 2, the Ducks failed to get any of their big guns on track outside of Getzlaf (who has three assists this series). Corey Perry, Matthieu Perreault, Andrew Cogliano and Nick Bonino have now all failed to hit the scoresheet against Los Angeles.

Notes

With the win, the Kings have now won four straight road games dating back to Game 5 of the San Jose series...L.A. is now just two wins away from advancing to their third straight Western Conference final. The last team to go to three straight was Detroit, from 2007-09...King’s empty-net goal was his first of the postseason.