*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*
Road game? No problem for the Kings. Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist, Kevin Fiala potted two goals, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Anaheim Ducks with a 5-2 victory on Friday in Anaheim.
The Kings continue their red hot start to the season, winning their 4th straight game, 8th out of the last 10, and improve to 12-3-3 overall. In addition to Kopitar and Fiala's performances, the Kings saw Drew Doughty, Trevor Moore, and Adrian Kempe pick up two assists.
With the win, the Kings also continue their undefeated run away from home. Through 9 road games, the Kings are 9-0, good for the second longest streak in NHL history. Only the 2006-2007 Buffalo Sabres with 10 straight wins on the road have more.
After 10 minutes to open the game, Fiala got the Kings on the board. He scored on the power play to give them a 1-0 lead, assisted by Kopitar and Doughty on his 5th goal of the season. On the power play again 2:01 later, Arthur Kaliyev doubled the Kings lead to 2-0 on his 4th goal of the season, with assists going to Moore and Jordan Spence.
Quinton Byfield made it 3-0 Kings just 1:17 into the second period on his 4th goal of the season. Fiala scored again at the 2:56 mark of the second to make it a 4-0 Kings lead. Radko Gudas scored his 4th goal of the season to get the Ducks on the board, making it 4-1. Kopitar scored in the 3rd period for the Kings and Alex Killorn scored for the Ducks to make it a 5-2 final.
Starting between the pipes for the Kings was Cam Talbot, who played well to get the win and improve his record to 10-3-1 through 14 games. Talbot stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced from the Ducks, giving him a .935 save percentage.
For the Ducks, veteran John Gibson was the starter, getting the loss as his record now stands at 4-8-0 over 13 starts. Gibson turned aside 26 out of the 31 shots on goal the Kings sent at him, recording a paltry .839 save percentage.
Gudas said of the loss that "We didn't have our best start again and it cost us the game. I think we battled our way back, we played hard through the whole game, but sometimes we do a little mistake that ends up costing us so far, so we need to clean those things up. I thought we battled all the way to the end. Nobody really gave up on anything."
The Kings battle the Montreal Canadiens at home on Saturday to finish a back to back, with Pheonix Copley getting the start. The Ducks hit the road to face the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, with Gibson the projected starter.
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