Kings answer every early punch from Ducks, then pull away behind Alex Turcotte’s three-point night

Two ties changed the tone of the night

Anaheim opened with the sharper scoreboard work. Nikita Nesterenko put the Ducks ahead at 7:06 of the first period on a snap shot, with Tim Washe and Judd Caulfield drawing the assists. Los Angeles answered quickly. Scott Laughton scored just 1:38 later, finishing a play set up by Erik Haula and Cody Ceci to make it 1-1.

The Ducks struck again late in the period when Beckett Sennecke restored the lead at 16:32, assisted by Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier. That second Anaheim advantage could have sent the game in a very different direction. Instead, Adrian Kempe levelled it again at 19:18, taking feeds from Brian Dumoulin and Drew Doughty to send the teams into intermission at 2-2.

That sequence mattered because it erased Anaheim’s best work almost as soon as it arrived. The Ducks generated just 17 shots all game, so their two first-period leads represented real efficiency. But Los Angeles never let either one stand for long, and the equalizer from Kempe just before the break shifted the game from a trade of chances into a night the Kings increasingly controlled on the details.

Zuccarello starts it, Turcotte finishes it

The middle of the game belonged to the Kings’ playmakers. Mats Zuccarello gave Los Angeles its first lead at 8:56 of the second period, scoring on a wrist shot off assists from Artemi Panarin and Kempe. After that, Anaheim did not score again.

The third period turned a close game into a comfortable Kings win. Alex Turcotte scored at 1:39 on a tip-in, with Doughty and Zuccarello assisting, for a 4-2 edge. Turcotte struck again at 8:56, this time on a wrist shot from Zuccarello, and Erik Haula added the sixth goal at 11:52 with Turcotte and Doughty on the setup.

Turcotte’s two goals and one assist gave Los Angeles its clearest finisher on the night, but this was hardly a one-man result. Zuccarello produced a goal and two assists. Doughty piled up three helpers from the back end. Haula finished with a goal and an assist, while Kempe added one of each. The Kings had six different goal scorers across the game if Laughton, Kempe, Zuccarello, Turcotte and Haula are counted alongside the second Turcotte marker as part of a broader spread of contributions — and that balance is what made Anaheim’s early success hard to sustain.

Our take: the Kings were cleaner, deeper and more punishing with their chances

The headline number is simple: Los Angeles scored six times on 22 shots, while Anaheim managed two on 17. But the more useful read comes from the supporting stats. The Kings blocked 14 shots to the Ducks’ six, committed fewer giveaways, 9 to 14, and made Anaheim pay more often on special teams. Los Angeles went 2-for-4 on the power play; Anaheim converted its only chance, but never earned enough volume there to keep pace.

Anaheim did some things well enough to stay in it early. The Ducks won 59.2 per cent of the faceoffs and matched the Kings with 30 hits. Sennecke scored his fourth goal of the season, and Carlsson, Gauthier, Washe and Caulfield all found the scoresheet. But the Ducks needed more after taking two first-period leads. When a team wins the draw battle and still spends the final 40 minutes being outscored 4-0, puck management and defensive resistance become obvious places to look first. The 14 giveaways stand out there.

For Los Angeles, the improvement note is narrower because the result covered a lot. The Kings probably will not love needing to erase two early deficits on home ice, especially against a team they eventually outlasted by four goals. Yet their recovery was mature. They did not chase the game after either Anaheim strike, and once they got even at 2-2, they steadily widened the gap. That is the kind of win that says more about composure than flash: absorb the shaky opening, tighten the details, and let the skill show up over 60 minutes.

Scoring moments

1. 1st · 7:06

   Nikita Nesterenko Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Tim Washe (1), Judd Caulfield (2)

2. 1st · 8:44

   Scott Laughton Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Erik Haula (1), Cody Ceci (1)

3. 1st · 16:32

   Beckett Sennecke Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Leo Carlsson (2), Cutter Gauthier (2)

4. 1st · 19:18

   Adrian Kempe Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Brian Dumoulin (2), Drew Doughty (2)

5. 2nd · 8:56

   Mats Zuccarello Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Artemi Panarin (1), Adrian Kempe (2)

6. 3rd · 1:39

   Alex Turcotte Goal (1) Tip-In, assists: Drew Doughty (3), Mats Zuccarello (1)

7. 3rd · 8:56

   Alex Turcotte Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Mats Zuccarello (2)

8. 3rd · 11:52

   Erik Haula Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Alex Turcotte (1), Drew Doughty (4)