Kings' shootout win over Ducks comes at a critical time
LA TimesKings left wing Kevin Fiala celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Ducks in the first period of a 3-2 win Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena. “It was kind of a grind game tonight, more than it’s been in the last couple of years against Anaheim,” Kings winger Adrian Kempe said. “We dug ourselves in a bit of a hole there in January so we need to take what we can get now.” Playing without steady defenseman Mikey Anderson, whose status was listed as week to week because of an upper-body injury, the Kings’ defense was sometimes burned by the Ducks’ playmaking off the rush. Maybe it wasn’t our best performance out there, but it was a big win.” Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov battles Ducks center Mason McTavish for the puck in the first period Saturday. “It’s going to be a huge road trip playing Vancouver, who we haven’t played yet, and then Calgary and Edmonton, that are two really good teams,” Kempe said.