Dostal makes 36 saves in Ducks win against Kings

ANAHEIM -- Lukas Dostal made 36 saves for the Anaheim Ducks in a 3-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Honda Center on Tuesday.

Frank Vatrano, Alex Killorn and Trevor Zegras scored, and Ryan Strome had two assists for the Ducks (26-48-5), who had lost seven of their past eight (1-5-2).

"We play hard all the time, and we're a tough team to play against," Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. "We've flirted with that throughout the year."

Akil Thomas scored, and Cam Talbot had 24 saves for the Kings (41-26-11), who had won three in a row and could've clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Los Angeles remained one point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights, who have one game in hand, for third place in the Pacific Division. 

"We thought it might be easy," Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller said. "It is never easy in the National Hockey League.”

Thomas gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 5:50 of the first period. Trevor Lewis’ backhand shot hit the side of the net and caromed in front of the left post to Thomas, who scored on the rebound for his second goal in his fourth NHL game.

"We know they have a lot of skill and a lot of young talent, and they're playing pretty freely right now," Lewis said of the Ducks. "I thought we had a pretty good first 10 minutes, and then things kind of got away from us. We were starting to get in their game a little bit and turning pucks over. Second period we played pretty well but let them hang around, and they’ve got some skill and their goalie played really well."

Vatrano tied it 1-1 at 17:46. Talbot made the save on Vatrano's deflection of a point shot from Radko Gudas, but Vatrano scored on the rebound with his backhand. It was his 33rd goal of the season.

Kings defenseman Drew Doughty made a sliding block on a shot by Killorn off a 2-on-1 rush at 12:12 to save a potential goal, and Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger hit the right post with a wrist shot from the right point prior to Vatrano’s goal.

“Our first 10-12 minutes I thought were great playing Kings hockey," Los Angeles forward Blake Lizotte said. "We kind of drifted away from that. A few guys went on their own page more than we’d like.”

Killorn appeared to give Anaheim the lead on a redirection during a power play at 1:22 of the third period, but the Kings successfully challenged for offside.

However, Killorn scored 29 seconds later on a wrist shot from above the left circle after the power play expired to put the Ducks ahead 2-1.

"It's hard to score goals in this league, so whenever they get taken away, it's pretty tough," Killorn said. "I was happy I could get it back quickly."

Zegras extended it to 3-1 at 5:50, forcing a turnover in the neutral zone before scoring with a wrist shot from the left circle. It was his first goal since Jan. 7. He was playing in his eighth game after missing 31 because of a broken ankle.

"To not play that many games, it's tough to just jump back in and play the game that you know you can play," Killorn said of Zegras. "For him, the more games he gets, the better he's getting."

Cronin said having a consistent lineup on the ice the past two games has made a difference.

"I don't want to make excuses, but there's been a lot of change in the lineup, the consistency hasn't been there, and the last couple games we've had the same lineup, which was nice," Cronin said. "You could see the chemistry that was there tonight and the last game as well, so I'm happy for them. They deserve to win more games than we've won this year."

NOTES: Vatrano trails only Artemi Panarin (46) and Jonathan Marchessault (41) for the most goals by an undrafted player this season. The only undrafted player to score more goals in a season for Anaheim is Andy McDonald (34 in 2005-06). … The Kings had won eight in a row against the Ducks. ... Killorn has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past five games.