Ducks, Dostál stuff Kings in shootout to hit 4 Nations break on win streak

LOS ANGELES – The third round of the Freeway Face-Off did not go quietly into the two-week 4 Nations Face-Off break, as the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings saved their flare for the dramatic for the late and very late stages on Saturday.

Brian Dumoulin scored for Anaheim in the third period, and Adrian Kempe tied it up for Los Angeles with just under three minutes to go. Overtime came and went with chances for both sides, and it came down to a shootout to determine who would ride the good feelings of a winning streak into the pause.

The Ducks’ skill and steadfast goaltending won out, as Lukáš Dostál guided both Kings shooters into the goal posts and Trevor Zegras and Leo Carlsson calmly put home their attempts to lead Anaheim over Los Angeles, 2-1, at Crypto.com Arena.

“Those two guys are so confident,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said of Zegras and Carlsson. “You can see when they carry the puck down, they know what they're doing. I was feeling good about what we had in the shootout.”

Dostál stopped 43 shots and surpassed his career high for wins in a season with his 15th of the campaign.

“They did a hell of job,” Dostál said of his team. “Obviously, LA (is a) really good team, but I think we did a great job today. The guys were blocking the shots. We were putting the pucks deep, and I think both teams played the right way. It could go with either way and it went our way. Great win before the break.”

Dumoulin netted his first goal as a Duck with his first tally in 58 games to break a scoreless tie with just under 13 minutes to play. Dumoulin last scored for the Seattle Kraken on April 11 of last season.

“Obviously, as the season goes on, I've been in that position before where I just wanna try to score one and contribute,” Dumoulin said. “Obviously, you want it to be a meaningful one. It was nice to see that one going for sure.”

Kempe tied the game with 2:39 to play with a sneaky backhand off the post. David Rittich made 24 saves for Los Angeles. The Kings came up empty on three power plays, including two in the first five minutes of the third period.

Anaheim (24-24-6, 54 points) has won three in a row and six of its last seven games. The Ducks hold a .500 record for the first time since Dec. 3 and are nine points out of the final wild card playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“I remember (Cronin) saying like we need to go 5-2 in our last seven games,” Dumoulin said. “We end up going 6-1, so it's a good feeling. Obviously, everyone's looking forward to this break and just getting a refresher, but we keep putting ourselves in good spots and we gotta keep climbing.”

Los Angeles (29-18-6, 68 points) snapped a three-game winning streak and remains in third place in the Pacific Division.

Heading into the game, Swedish forwards Leo Carlsson (Ducks) and Adrian Kempe (Kings) were the only representatives from either team traveling to Montreal and Boston for the 4 Nations Face-Off, but Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was announced during the game as a late addition to the Canadian roster.

Sweden opens against Canada on Wednesday in Montreal. The top two teams after the three-game round-robin schedules will play in the championship game on Feb. 20 in Boston.

Following the 4-Nations Face-Off, Anaheim will next be in action on Feb. 22 in Boston to kick off a three-game road trip. Los Angeles also gets back to it on Feb. 22 at home against Utah.

“After the break, it's gonna be a really exciting time and to come back and be really dialed in because we got to collect the points to make the playoffs,” Dostál said.

Dostál was dialed in from puck drop with a cadre of key saves in the first five minutes. The 24-year-old Czech stood tall on a between-the-legs attempt from Quentin Byfield in the opening minute, shrugged off a two-on-one chance from 1,000-game man Trevor Lewis and flashed the right pad on a power-play tip.

Dostál made three saves on the Kings’ first power play.

As the period wore on, Anaheim established its forecheck more and more and nearly capitalized on a goalmouth scramble, where Jacob Trouba was denied on the doorstep by the telescopic left pad of Rittich.

The Ducks earned 70% of the expected goals at five-on-five in the first period.

Anaheim earned its first power play early in the second period, and the Ducks rolled out their newly formed five-forward first unit for the second straight game. However, Mason McTavish’s stick broke on a sure-fire one-timer, and Trevor Zegras hit the post, as the Ducks came up empty on their 14th consecutive man-advantage.

Ducks would run that streak to 15 straight without a goal after a short overtime advantage. Anaheim has just two goals in its last 21 power plays.

Los Angeles held the majority of play in the middle frame, but Dostál was locked in on the puck, tracking the disc through traffic and side-to-side for 16 saves in the period.

The Kings earned golden opportunities to grab the lead early in the third period with two power plays in the first five minutes.

Anaheim and Dostál locked down with just two shots on goal allowed, including a charge to the crease by Warren Foegele stuffed by Dostál.

The tiebreaker would come from the most unlikely of spots for the Ducks with just under 13 minutes to play.

On a delayed penalty, Dumoulin stepped up into the left circle to blister a wrister by Rittich’s left glove to put Anaheim ahead, 1-0. Trouba and Carlsson earned the assists, with Carlsson’s being his third helper in three games.

“Obviously, excited,” Dostál said on Dumuolin’s first goal as a Duck. “You saw that everybody was really happy for him after the game. He's been great for us the whole season.”

From there, Dostál continued to build his wall, as the Kings stormed the crease. The Czech netminder stoned Lewis, who walked in front with nine minutes to play.

Los Angeles finally found a hole in the Dost-wall with just under three minutes remaining.

Kempe burst in the zone, and his backhand found space under Dostál’s right elbow and trickled off the post and over the goal line.

This was Kempe’s 25th goal and 46th point in 53 career games against Anaheim.

Dostál made 15 saves in the period, but the Ducks only generated six shots in the final 20 minutes before the game went into overtime.

Los Angeles held the puck for the entirety of the first half of the extra session, and when the Ducks finally grabbed control, Rittich stretched to his left to deny a two-on-one counter-attack one-timer by Cutter Gauthier from Zegras.

Dostál again flashed his left pad to deny a wraparound by Kevin Fiala with 1:32 to play.

Game Notes

• Ducks captain Radko Gudas was out for Saturday’s game after missing practice the last two days due to illness. Young defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, 21, replaced Gudas in the line-up and skated on a pair with Jacob Trouba. 

• Mintyukov had been a healthy scratch in the last two games after 12 straight appearances, as the Ducks continue to navigate their logjam of young defensemen.

• Anaheim fourth-line forward Jansen Harkins was the healthy scratch up front with enforcer Ross Johnston skating with center Isac Lundeström and Brett Leason.

• In the pregame, the Kings honored Trevor Lewis for his 1,000th career NHL game. Lewis has spent all but three seasons with the Kings in his career and was part of the franchise’s two Stanley Cup championship teams in 2010 and 2012.