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LOS ANGELES — Alex Iafallo, Viktor Arvidsson and Kevin Fiala scored as the Los Angeles Kings beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 on Tuesday night for their third straight win.
“Stringing a few together, that’s what good teams do. And to finally get a little consistency there is nice,” Kings defenseman Sean Durzi said.
The Kings won three straight games for the second time this season, and Pheonix Copley made 24 saves to join teammate Jonathan Quick in winning three consecutive starts. Quick’s wins came Nov. 5-10 during a four-game win streak.
“It doesn’t look like he’s panicking at any point. He’s just making saves, and he’s getting up and doing it all over again. … I think that makes us feel comfortable,” coach Todd McLellan said of Copley, who improved to 5-1-0.
Drew Doughty had a power-play goal, and Adrian Kempe added two assists as the Kings took opener of the three-game Freeway Faceoff rivalry series.
Frank Vatrano scored on the power play and Lukas Dostal allowed four goals on 41 shots as the Ducks failed in their bid to get their first three-game winning streak of the season.
“We had a good thing going there, a couple wins in a row coming into a rivalry game. We would have liked to have a better showing than that tonight, but give them credit. They did a good job capitalizing on their opportunities, and that was the difference in the game,” Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler said.
The Kings took charge in the second period, converting during a strong stretch of play on a slap shot by Doughty with a second left on a power play at 6:46.
Vatrano scored on the rebound of a shot by Kevin Shattenkirk on the man advantage, but Iafallo restored the lead 2-1 with 20.4 seconds to go in the second by scoring off Phillip Danault’s pass after an assertive possession behind the net.
Iafallo said there was a definite carryover from how the second ended to how the third started. Arvidsson extended the margin to 3-1 early, finishing off a rush for his first point in two games after missing two games for paternity leave.
“Just trying to stay on the forecheck and stay in on D,” Iafallo said. “Going at the end of a period like that, you just see it, you want to do it in the next period after.”
Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said his team got too caught up in trying to make amends for Iafallo’s late goal.
“We came off the bench with offense on our brain instead of coming in with support, so the game, to me, came down to a miscommunication and a lack of focus coming off the bench,” Eakins said.
Fiala capped the scoring with a strong individual effort, shaking off Vatrano and Nathan Beaulieu to score on a breakaway.
“I wonder the fact that he was sandwiched between a couple players allowed him to stay on his feet, but he’s very strong and determined. It’s a skill that if you want to be a top scorer, you’ve got to have that, and he’s got it right now,” McLellan said.
WORTH NOTING
Doughty has two goals and 18 assists through 34 games, becoming the first Kings defenseman to get 20 points in 15 straight seasons. … Los Angeles has scored a power-play goal in eight straight home games, its longest run since Feb. 17 to March 17, 2007. … Ducks D Urho Vaakanainen did not play because of illness, forcing a move away from the 11-forward, seven-defenseman lineup the team had been using recently. Ducks F Justin Kirkland made his NHL debut after being called up from the AHL earlier in the day.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Host Minnesota on Wednesday night.
Kings: Host Calgary on Thursday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports
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