The Kings picked up their third straight win of the preseason and second consecutive defeat of the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, blanking the Ducks 4-0. With the win, the Kings have now earned seven of a possible eight points in the four preseason games and have two games to go before the points really count. And while the points don’t necessarily matter in the preseason per se, what does matter is the impressive play from the players that is resulting in the wins.
Speaking of impressive play, one of the Kings offseason acquisitions Tanner Jeannot has been just that. Jeannot appeared in his second game of the preseason picked up his second goal in as many games to give the Kings a first period lead against the Ducks. After ripping a beautiful wrist shot from distance to score against the Vegas Golden Knights last week, Jeannot netted a goal much more common in his game on Monday. Jeannot showcased his soft hands and quick reactions in front of the Ducks crease after an Akil Thomas tip off of a Jacob Moverare point shot presented a rebound. Quickly gathering and deking, Jeannot slid the puck into the Ducks net and handed the Kings a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
The Kings comfortably distanced themselves from the Ducks in the second period with a pair of early goals, pushing the lead to a field goal. Just 1:22 into the period, Kevin Fiala and Vladislav Gavrikov teamed up for a beautiful back-and-forth passing play that ended up in the Ducks net. A Quinton Byfield center-lane drive opened up a passing lane for Gavrikov in the high slot as the Kings entered the zone on a 3-on-2 and a little give-and-go action resulted in Fiala setting up Gavrikov for a one-time snap shot five hole goal. Not much later, Akil Thomas drove the net backdoor and Phillip Danault hit Thomas with the perfect pass from behind the Ducks net and pushed the Kings lead up to three.
Enter period three and it took the Kings just 46 seconds to make it 4-0. The Kings began the period in the power play, and while the goal doesn’t go down as one coming on the man advantage, the puck crossed the line just two seconds after the Ducks penalty expired. Following a lengthy puck battle on the wall, the puck made its way to Jordan Spence on the blue line and Spence quickly attacked the open ice in the slot. Spence’s slot shot resulted in a rebound in the direction of Byfield on his one-time side and Byfield quickly ripped a shot that ping ponged into the Ducks net.
Taking the net for the Kings on Monday night was Darcy Kuemper who looked sharp, stopping all 23 Ducks shots.
The Kings next preseason game is set for Thursday, October 3rd in Quebec against the Boston Bruins.
