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After early line brawl, Ducks defeat Kings to extend winning streak to 11 games

Jamie McGinn, Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg

From right to left, Anaheim Ducks’ Jamie McGinn, Rickard Rakell, of Sweden, and Jakob Silfverberg, also of Sweden, celebrate a goal by Silfverberg during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings, Saturday, March 5, 2016, in Los Angeles. The Ducks won 3-2. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

AP

The Anaheim Ducks are on a mighty impressive roll right now.

They prevailed with a 3-2 victory over their bitter rivals, the L.A. Kings, on Saturday to run their winning streak to 11 games and take over first place in the Pacific Division with 18 games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The loss drops the Kings to second in the division. The San Jose Sharks can move back to within four points of the Ducks with a win later tonight over the floundering Vancouver Canucks.

If Saturday’s clash was an indication, any possible playoff series involving these teams would be a must-watch, physically brutal contest with two of the best puck possession teams in the league.

There were fireworks early. A line brawl erupted less than seven minutes into the first period, resulting in 66 total penalty minutes and game misconducts to Kevin Bieksa and Andy Andreoff.

Kris Versteeg, who was involved in a fight with Rickard Rakell during that brawl, left the game after the first period and did not return.

The Ducks took the lead in the second period on goals from Ryan Kesler and David Perron. Jakob Silfverberg scored early in the third period to give Anaheim a two-goal lead.

His goal stood as the winner. Drew Doughty cut Anaheim’s lead to one just 1:03 after Silfverberg scored, but the Kings couldn’t get the equalizer.

Frederik Andersen stopped 32 of 34 shots faced for the Ducks.