PROFILE

mateo1.gifMatt Murray has been a Kings fan since the late '80s, when Wayne Gretzky grabbed headlines by defecting to the West Coast. Since then, he has been a card-carrying bandwagon member as the club soared in popularity with their sole Stanley Cup appearance to their position near the bottom of the Pacific. But things are looking brighter, as he is anxious to witness the rise of the new Kings.
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Cammy's OT whammy stymies Duckies

0301-kings1.jpgSo, every game this season between the Kings and Ducks have been decided by one goal. The road team is 5-0, so it seems the Ducks should win tonight. Tonight, the Kings will be welcoming back Jaroslav Modry, as well as Raitis Ivanans, who is back after missing two games from an injury. Shay Stephenson makes his debut tonight, as he was called up to fill a spot on the roster. Since they traded away their captain, I'm interested to see that they have named three alternate captains: Rob Blake, Scott Thornton and Aaron Miller. They are doing that out of respect for Norstrom.

Alexander Frolov gets the scoring started for the Kings, when a breakaway chance results in a Kings goal. Frolov was working hard around the Ducks blueline, and is just able to tip a pass away from the Ducks, and skates down the ice and flips a backhand past Ilya Bryzgalov for his 33rd of the season.

But the Ducks tied it up on the power play. Scott Neidermeyer holds onto the puck long enough to have Dustin Penner and Teemu Selanne create havoc in front of Sean Burke, then threw it at the net. It is Penner who is able to redirect the puck under Burke for his 22nd of the season.

The Kings were outshot, 11-6, but have the edge in hits, 11-10. But even since the Kings first goal, the Ducks have been hustling to the puck and outplaying the Kings.

First period: Kings 1, Ducks 1

Ivanans finds his way to the box, thanks to a tripping call, as the Kings go on the penalty kill for the third time this game. And another redirection results in an Anaheim goal. Chris Pronger shoots it from the point, and Scott Neidermeyer is able to get his stick on the puck to put the Ducks up, 2-1.

Then, the Ducks score later in the period, to put some distance between them and Los Angeles. Chris Kunitz checks Blake in the corner, and the pucks pops to Selanne. Teemu skates up to the red line, and passes over to Andy McDonald to lift the Ducks 3-1. Burke looks upset with himself, as it was only him and McDonald.

But then Ivanans brings L.A. to within one goal, when he skates out with the puck and beats Bryzgalov for his third goal of the season. The Kings needed that goal. And the Kings, who have only had 12 shots in two periods, go into the locker room down only one goal. A position they have been used to when playing the Ducks.

Second period: Ducks 3, Kings 2

The Kings tie the game up, thanks to Jaime Lundmark. Dustin brown was carrying the puck into the zone, but was knocked down. He was able to get the puck in deep, and the puck found Jaime Heward at the blueline. Heward's shot was deflected in by Lundmark, and we're all tied up.

The Ducks are getting chippy, now that they are tired. the Kings get a power play when Andy McDonald runs Derel Armstrong into the boards. Tonight, the Kings are 0-for-4 with the man advantage, and this one is no exception. Their special teams fails them again. And for the 16th time this season, we're heading to overtime.

Third period: Kings 3, Ducks 3

Early in the overtime, Andy McDonald's shot nails Visnovsky, and he collapses to the ice. He finally is able to skate over to the bench, but he is in obvious pain. He flops over the wall as play continues. Scott Niedermayer is a little too aggressive with his check on Brown, and the Kings, whose power play has been anemic, skates out with a 4-on-3 man advantage.

Surprising, Visnovsky being the warrior that he is, makes his way out to the ice with Cammalleri, Blake and Frolov. They set up the power play, with Lubo quarterbacking the play. His pass over to Cammalleri is one-timed quickly over the shoulder of Bryzgalov for the win. The Kings finally connect on the PP, and the Kings break the pattern of the road team winning between Anaheim and Los Angeles.

Final score: Kings 4, Ducks 3

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