Preview: Ducks Ready for Getzlaf's Final Freeway Face-Off at Honda Center
Tonight's game will be the penultimate NHL appearance at Honda Center for Ryan Getzlaf, who will retire at the end of the season. The Captain has collected 547 points on Honda Center ice in his 17-year career and owns 59 points against the crosstown rival Kings, the latter second-most among active NHLers.
Despite his pending retirement, Getzlaf has back-to-back multi-point games, tying Teemu Selanne for the most in franchise history (258). His final NHL game will be on Fan Appreciation Night, Sunday April 24 at Honda Center.
The Ducks have earned points in four of their last five games and will look to keep the momentum rolling tonight against a Kings team desperately fighting for postseason positioning. Anaheim grabbed a 6-4 win over Columbus on Sunday with six different Ducks notching multi-point games.
"I give our guys credit," head coach Dallas Eakins said. "This whole stretch has been such a roller coaster ride for our whole group but they seem to not care whose in the lineup, they're connected, they're working hard, they refuse to pack it in, and they keep competing and I think that is a real testament to the fight we have in there and the kind of individuals that we have in there and most importantly, the type of leadership we have in there."
Sunday was a night of milestones, including notable accomplishments for Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras, Cam Fowler and Derek Grant.
Terry scored twice, the 35th and 36th goals of his stellar breakout season, to become the fifth player in franchise history with a 35-goal campaign, joining Paul Kariya, Selanne, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan.
"It would be awesome to hit [40 goals]," Terry admitted. "I won't stand up here and tell you it wouldn't be cool to be to do it but it's also not something I'm going to be really looking for or pressing…That's kind of been my motto the whole year trying not to ride the ups and downs, and just keep doing the same thing and see what happens."
Zegras posted a goal and an assist, matching Ryan for the Ducks single-season rookie scoring record (57 points).
"Obviously, Bobby Ryan is a tremendous hockey player, and I grew up watching him so to be tied to him in some way is pretty special for me," Zegras said.
Fowler (1-1=2) also set a new career high in scoring (41 points) while Grant matched a new personal best in goals (15).
The Ducks and Kings have split the front half of the four-game season series, each earning a victory on their rival's home ice. Anaheim claimed a 6-5 shootout victory at Crypto.com Arena in November with two points and a shootout-clinching goal from Kevin Shattenkirk. LA responded in February with a 4-1 triumph at Honda Center thanks to three points from All-Star winger Adrian Kempe.
The Kings (40-27-10, 90 points) sit three points clear of the Golden Knights for the Pacific Division's third automatic playoff spot with five games still to play on both teams' regular-season schedule.
LA earned a 2-1 win over Columbus on Saturday, bouncing back from a tough loss to Colorado that saw the Kings give up a season-high nine goals.
