Adrian Kempe and Alex Laferriere netted goals early in the third period to propel the visiting Los Angeles Kings to a 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night, marking the first game of the season in the Freeway Faceoff Series.
Kevin Fiala and Mikey Anderson added two goals into an empty net during the final minutes to secure the Kings’ second consecutive victory. David Rittich made 14 saves for Los Angeles, which is currently playing a seven-game road trip due to renovations at Crypto.com Arena.
Ryan Strome scored for Anaheim, while Lukas Dostal recorded 33 saves.
The tightly contested game saw just 28 shots on goal during the first two scoreless periods, with the Ducks managing only 10. The Kings had the best scoring opportunities, both occurring in the second period: defenseman Jordan Spence hit the post, and Fiala sent a backhand shot just over the crossbar.
Kempe opened the scoring at 3:06 of the third period, tallying his third goal of the season with a wrist shot following a long bank pass from Anze Kopitar. Laferriere extended the lead to 2-0 midway through the period, intercepting a pass from defenseman Jackson LaCombe and firing a wrist shot into the top left corner for his fourth goal.
Anaheim responded with 1:44 remaining when Strome scored with a one-timer from the top of the left circle, cutting the lead to 2-1. Fiala then secured an empty-net goal with 1:07 to go, marking his fourth of the season, while Anderson rounded out the scoring with a length-of-ice empty-netter 36 seconds from the end for his second goal.
