Tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET, the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings hit the ice at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for Game 3 of their Round 2 best-of-seven series as part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The game can be live streamed for free here. Anaheim fans can hear all of the action on KLAA 830 while Los Angeles fans can do the same on Fox Sports 570.
Anaheim has a tough task ahead of it after dropping the first two games of this series and will now try to get back into it on the road while Los Angeles looks to take a commanding 3-0 lead on home ice.
The Kings rallied late and ended up winning Game 1 from the Ducks in overtime by a 3-2 margin last Saturday and then picked up a 3-1 win in Game 2 to escape Anaheim with a 2-0 series lead. The Kings have won six straight games after coming back from a 3-0 deficit to win four straight against the San Jose Sharks in Round 1.
The Ducks have just three goals through six periods in this series, and while Corey Perry and captain Ryan Getzlaf have led the team to where it is right now, coach Bruce Boudreau said other players need to step up.
"It's not totally reliant on them," Boudreau said per NHL.com. "But when you lose and you don't score goals, people start asking, 'What about Perry and Getzlaf?" There's other guys on the team. I can only say they're trying as hard as they can and they want to win more than anybody. Their attitude is great."
Getzlaf and Perry are the top two in points for the Ducks thus far in the playoffs as Getzlaf has 10 points off of three goals and seven assists and has assisted on all three Anaheim goals this series while Perry has seven points off of three tallies and four helpers. Patrick Maroon is third on the team as he's found the twine twice and added four assists for six points.
The Kings boast a deep team and are getting hot just at the right time as they did in 2012 when they won 16 times in 20 games to hoist the Stanley Cup, and the team dresses many depth players that play a huge role this time of year.
"When they dress we expect them to play as much as everybody else," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said of his team's depth players via NHL.com. "If they are playing as well, then they do. If they aren't, then they don't. It's no different than any other player"
Anze Kopitar has paced the Kings and is first in the entire playoffs in points (14) and assists (10) and he has added four goals while Marian Gaborik (6) is tied for the postseason lead in markers and has added three assists to rank second on the team with nine points. Defenseman Drew Doughty has come up huge in this postseason and ranks third on the team with eight points off of a goal and seven assists.
With a lot of the Kings blueline banged up, Alec Martinez will likely continue to take on a bigger role. Martinez has a goal in each of the past two games this series and is 2-3--5 overall in the playoffs.
In net, Los Angeles turns to Jonathan Quick, who is 6-3 this postseason with a 2.68 goals-against average while ranking third in the playoffs with a .924 save percentage. Anaheim's Jonas Hiller will likely continue to man the crease after losing the first two games to bring his record this postseason to 1-2 with a 1.75 GAA and a .923 save percentage.
These Southern California rivals continue their best-of-seven Round 2 series when the lights come up at the Staples Center tonight in Los Angeles for Game 3 as part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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