By Anaheim Ducks
ANAHEIM – The Anaheim Ducks clinched their fifth straight Pacific Division title in a 4-3 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings at Honda Center on Sunday.
The Ducks (46-23-13) will face the Calgary Flames in the Western Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“It’s a credit to the players, who came together and achieved it,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “It’s only one part, though. The most important part comes next.”
Shea Theodore scored his second goal of the season on a breakaway 53 seconds into overtime.
Nate Thompson scored his first goal of the season for the Ducks at 11:34 of the third period to tie it 3-3. Brandon Montour centred the puck from near the goal line and Thompson redirected the pass off Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick and across the goal line.
Dustin Brown scored at 7:55 of the third off a deflection to give the Kings their only lead at 3-2.
Drew Doughty and Kyle Clifford also scored for Los Angeles.
The Kings (39-35-8) tied it 2-2 on a redirection by Clifford at 15:56 of the second period.
Anaheim took a 2-1 lead at 9:53 of the second on the first goal by Antoine Vermette since Feb. 9. The Ducks were on the power play after the Kings were penalized for too many men on the ice. Ryan Getzlaf passed from behind the net to Vermette. Quick scrambled to get back in position and Vermette scored his ninth goal of the season.
The Ducks took a 1-0 lead 27 seconds into the game.
Doughty brought the puck out of the Los Angeles zone for the first time, but his pass was behind Anze Kopitar and went off a skate. Getzlaf retrieved the puck in the neutral zone, backhanded a pass to Patrick Eaves on his right and he scored on the short side of the net with a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle.
Eaves left in the second period because of an undisclosed injury.
“I saw him after the game. He looked fine,” Carlyle said.
Doughty scored a power-play goal at 11:20 of the first to tie it 1-1.
Kopitar said he anticipates some new faces in the locker room next season.
“It’s tough to see your friends and the players you’ve won with go, but if that’s the case, you can’t really mope about it,” he said. “You have to create new memories.”
