Tonight's game represents the first of five contests in the 2016-17 Freeway Faceoff. Anaheim has won 11 of the past 15 regular-season games vs. Los Angeles (11-2-2), while 10 of the past 14 Ducks-Kings games have been decided by one goal. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, the Ducks have scored 81 goals to the Kings' 73 (shootout goals excluded) in 31 games. In that time span, the two teams have posted 18-9-4 (Anaheim) and 13-12-6 (Los Angeles) records. All-time, the Ducks are 60-43-24 vs. the Kings, including a 26-28-9 mark in Los Angeles. This five-game season series will feature an additional game at Staples Center on Saturday, Feb. 25 (1 p.m. PST) and three at Honda Center on Sunday, Nov. 20 (5 p.m. PST), Sunday, Feb. 19 (6 p.m. PST) and Sunday, April 9 (5:30 p.m. PDT).
The Ducks are coming off a forgettable 4-0 shutout defeat on Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Honda Center. The loss represented the first shutout defeat this season for the Ducks, who also saw their four-game points streak come to an end in their first home loss in 2016-17.
The Kings fared even worse, as they got shutout in back-to-back fashion in St. Louis on Saturday (1-0) and Chicago on Sunday (3-0). Andy Andreoff suffered a lower-body injury in the game against the Blackhawks representing the third player lost to injury in a span of nine days.
Upcoming milestones for Anaheim include Cam Fowler only one goal from surpassing Fredrik Olausson (37) for sole possession of fourth on the franchise's all-time goals list for defensemen and one power-play goal shy of tying Chris Pronger (20) for third on the franchise's all-time PPG list for defensemen. In addition, Sami Vatanen is one point from tying Ruslan Salei (105) for eighth on the franchise's all-time scoring list for defensemen.
