Freeway Brawl

For a rivalry game, you'd think they'd muster up a little more enthusiasm, but it was a quiet game as the Ducks took down the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1 at home.

Bobby Ryan has become irreplaceable to the Ducks, and is the NHL rookie leader in points per game. He scored the first goal for Anaheim off a pass from Ryan Getzlaf to put the Ducks ahead 1-0 late in the first period.

The Duck's defense was the most critical aspect of their game tonight, holding the Kings to just 18 shots throughout regulation, killing off 4 of 5 penalties, and even managing to score a goal. Because of the absence of Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne, one of the Duck's top defensive players, Samuel Pahlsson, was placed on the power play unit, and found the back of the net on a power play halfway through the second period to break the tied 1-1 game.

The Ducks scored their third and final goal in the last 7 seconds of the game on an empty net shot by Rob Niedermeyer.

The Ducks only earned four 2 minute minor penalties throughout the game, but the Kings saw their opportunity to score on the only 5-3 advantage they were allowed in the first minute of the second period. Rob Niedermeyer and Samuel Pahlsson both earned time in the sin bin for separate hooking and tripping calls.

Jonas Hiller stopped 17 of 18 shots the Kings took, and has started in the net for the past two games. After earning his third career shutout against Phoenix on Sunday, Hiller has proven he's a consistent netminder, and tonights results only reinforce that.

Elsewhere in the NHL, both Boston and San Jose lost to teams they shouldnt have lost to. Boston fell to Minnesota 1-0 and Calgary beat San Jose 5-2. Guess you cant win them all.

Lets Go Ducks!