Ducks' Kevin Bieksa Knocks Out Opponent With Superman Punch [VIDEO]
By DAN GREENSPAN, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Anaheim Ducks landed punches early, before the Los Angeles Kings rallied late to deliver the winning blow.
Trevor Lewis scored in the fourth round of a shootout, and the Kings ended a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory on Saturday night.
Dustin Brown scored with 1:32 remaining in regulation as Los Angeles won for the second time in its last seven home games (2-5-0).
"It's no secret, we've been struggling in here a little bit lately, and it's always nice to get a home win right before you go," Lewis said before the Kings start a four-game road trip at Detroit on Tuesday.
Jonathan Quick broke a six-game losing streak, matching the longest of his career after going 0-4-2 in 2011-12 and 0-3-3 in 2014-15. He made 25 saves.
Anze Kopitar also scored in the shootout and Quick stopped Kevin Roy's shot for the victory.
Nick Ritchie scored for the Ducks, who opened a six-game road trip, their longest of the season, by earning a point away from home for the fifth straight game. Ryan Miller stopped 33 shots for Anaheim in his first start after missing five games with a lower-body injury.
Miller somehow stopped Brown's wraparound shot while face-down on the ice, but had no chance of keeping out the follow-up shot to tie the game at 1.
"Confidence is a funny thing," said Brown, who scored his ninth goal. "When things are going great, you feel like you can beat anybody, but I think it's times like these that build the character of a group for the long term."
The Ducks jumped out in front when Ritchie scored through traffic at 10:08 in the first off Corey Perry's pass. It was Ritchie's third goal of the season, while Perry picked up his 10th point in his last 10 games.
"I think this team always brings out the best in us," Ducks defenseman Kevin Bieksa said. "There's obviously a pretty strong rivalry there and, as you can see, the emotions are pretty high right off the bat and you got everybody going. It was a great game. It was physical, it had a little bit of everything. You could tell that we wanted this one, and you win it in the shootout or in overtime, you feel like a million bucks. If you lose, you feel like a zero."
Already playing without top forwards Ryan Getzlaf (face), Ryan Kesler (hip surgery) and Patrick Eaves (illness), the Ducks were dealt another blow as Rickard Rakell did not play because of an upper-body injury. Rakell, who leads the team with eight goals and 18 points, is day-to-day and will not travel with the team during the remainder of the road trip, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.
"Credit to the guys that are here, it's not an easy task to go out and play in situations maybe that they have never been in their life in the NHL and playing that high in the lineup," Carlyle said. "We have some growth taking place too in some young players and that's been very, very enlightening. And we're real pleased with that, but points are what is most important."
The second installment of the Freeway Faceoff this season got off to a typically feisty start, with Kurtis MacDermid and Mike Liambas fighting after 1:53. Oscar Fantenberg and Ducks iron man Andrew Cogliano then traded punches at 4:40. Bieksa then dropped Andy Andreoff with a single devastating right hand at 9:25.
Andreoff did not return.
"I think if you've been in a lot of fights before you don't really celebrate the wins too much because you know with the wins comes the losses. I'm glad to have won the fight, but I hope he's OK," Bieksa said.
NOTES: The Ducks recalled Kalle Kossila from their AHL affiliate in San Diego to fill out the roster with Rakell hurt. . Kings F Torrey Mitchell is still waiting on a work visa before he can make his debut after being acquired from Montreal in a trade on Thursday.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
Kings: Visit the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
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