Preview: Ducks Continue Preseason Tonight vs. Kings

The Ducks will resume their preseason preparations for the 2024-25 campaign tonight on home ice, hosting the rival Los Angeles Kings at Honda Center.

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Tonight's game marks the first Ducks broadcast on Victory+ and KCOP Channel 13 (FOX 11 Plus). All local games starting this season will be available to stream on Victory+, a free direct-to-consumer streaming service created for Ducks fans by A Parent Media Co Inc while FOX 11 Plus will air 65 Ducks game on over-the-air television. As a result, locally broadcast Ducks games will be available to 100% of the Los Angeles regional market, entirely free to all fans. For more information on how to watch the Ducks this season, click here.

The Ducks return home tonight for the second of consecutive exhibition meetings with the Kings after falling 3-2 to their Southern California rival Sunday at Toyota Arena in Ontario.

"We were just OK the first couple periods," head coach Greg Cronin said. "They played a simple game, getting it deep, getting it back and chucking pucks to the net. I thought they controlled the play because of that...In the second period, we kind of did the same thing to them that they did to us. It's a good teaching moment for the group."

Anaheim's lineup will again shift from Sunday's group as the club continues to get its NHL veterans into the mix before Oct. 12th's season opener in San Jose. Tonight's projected lineup includes veteran defenseman Brian Dumoulin making his unofficial Ducks debut as well as youngsters Olen Zellweger and Tristan Luneau on the backend. Anaheim will also shake up its veteran forward lines for the first time in training camp, with Trevor Zegras, Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome among those expected to play tonight.

"These next few games, we'll manage that and see what combinations will work," Cronin said. "We've kept the same guys together in training camp, in terms of the NHL guys in the lineup. We'll start to move more of the NHL guys through the lineup [for games three and four] and then hopefully settle in for five and six."

The Ducks now sit 1-1-1 in the preseason, with games remaining against the Kings, Sharks and Utah Hockey Club.

On the other side, the Kings head south at 2-0-1 in the exhibition season. Following tonight's game, LA will embark on a nearly three-week road trip, playing two preseason games in Quebec before beginning the 2024-25 season with seven straight road outings.