Hilfe » Although Los Angeles is below the 14th-place

ANAHEIM Mark Stone Jersey , Calif. (AP) —Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference standings, the last-place Kings have emerged on top of their closest rivals in both of their head-to-head matchups so far this season.The Freeway Faceoff is about all that’s left to motivate these teams while Southern California’s hockey renaissance ends with a thud.Carl Grundstrom scored his second NHL goal in his second career game and the Kings won for just the second time in 15 games, beating the Ducks 3-2 Sunday night in a meeting of once-powerful rivals going through nightmare seasons.Dustin Brown and Kyle Clifford also scored first-period goals, and Jonathan Quick made 18 saves in the Kings’ second win over Anaheim this season. There are two more meetings in the Freeway Faceoff over the next four weeks, putting some excitement in the Southland before both of its hockey teams likely miss the playoffs in the same season for the first time since 2004.“We’re both not in playoff spots, but we’re still playing for pride,” Clifford said. “And they’re always a rival over there.”The stakes are usually higher for Los Angeles and Anaheim. These teams are coming off a brilliant seven-year stretch in which the Kings won two Stanley Cup championships and the Ducks won five consecutive Pacific Division titles while reaching two conference finals.The good times abruptly ended last spring when both teams were swept in the first round of the playoffs, and this year has been miserable since the Kings flopped in the opening weeks and the Ducks fell into a midseason tailspin.There’s always a spark when the rivals get together, but the Kings had enough resilience to beat the Ducks again despite going scoreless in the final 43 minutes.“You knew right off that it was a pretty competitive atmosphere within both teams,” said coach Willie Desjardins, whose first game behind the Kings’ bench was a 4-1 win over Anaheim on Nov. 6. “If you look at their history Youth Matt Duchene Jersey , both of these clubs have had really good teams for a number of years, so it’s not surprising that they’ve played in lots of big games. It’s always good when you get to be a part of a challenge like that.”Jakob Silfverberg and Daniel Sprong scored for the Ducks, who followed up an impressive performance against Montreal with a lifeless effort against their neighbors. Ryan Miller stopped 22 shots.“First half of the game, not even close to good enough,” Silfverberg said. “We’ve been playing pretty good, but that was a step way back. We got flat-footed against a team that wanted it more. We kind of turned it on in the third period, but it was too late.”Honda Center wasn’t completely full when the puck dropped on the clubs’ 139th regular-season meeting, but the sellout crowd eventually arrived while Brown and Sprong traded goals 65 seconds apart in the opening minutes. Clifford then put Los Angeles ahead with his career-best eighth goal midway through the first period.The Kings held Anaheim to two shots in the opening period and took a 3-1 lead when Grundstrom nimbly converted Adrian Kempe’s pass on a rush. Grundstrom, a 21-year-old Swede who came up from the AHL on Friday, joined Brian Boyle as the only rookies in Kings history to score a goal in each of their first two games.After a scoreless second period, Silfverberg emerged from behind Quick’s net and trimmed the Kings’ lead on an unassisted goal with 7:44 left.The Ducks couldn’t even it late Mike Condon Jersey , losing to the Kings for just the 10th time in their last 27 meetings.“In the last six or seven games, we’ve been the better team in the majority of those,” Ducks assistant coach Marty Wilford said. “Tonight was a slow start, and it’s tough to chase the game, as we’ve learned all year. It’s tough to catch up, especially against a team like LA. There really wasn’t much space. They checked very hard.”NOTES: Boyle scored in each of his first two games for Los Angeles in February 2008. … Silfverberg has points in a career-best five straight games. … Ducks C Ryan Kesler missed his second straight game with a hip injury. The 34-year-old veteran had major hip surgery before last season, and he has just eight points in 60 games this season. … Kings F Brendan Leipsic was scratched for the first time in 59 games. He hadn’t missed a game since Los Angeles claimed him off waivers from Vancouver on Dec. 3.UP NEXTKings: Host Predators on Thursday night.Ducks: Host Predators on Tuesday night. PITTSBURGH (AP) The chase began nearly a year ago, when Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan addressed hundreds of thousands of fans following a second Stanley Cup championship parade through choked downtown streets in as many summers.Rather than run from the challenge of trying to become the first franchise in 35 years to win three consecutive Cups, Sullivan embraced it.”I wonder if we can repeat, or three-peat, should I say Ryan Dzingel Jersey ,” Sullivan said.Following an occasionally rocky regular season, the Penguins begin their pursuit in earnest Wednesday night when they host cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers to open their first-round series. Asked Tuesday if he remembers openly talking about a three-peat – last accomplished by the New York Islanders in 1983 – Sullivan just shrugged. He wasn’t so much predicting another mid-June celebration as he was stating the obvious.”We believe that we have a group that’s capable,” Sullivan said. ”And we’ve shown an ability to have success in a high-stakes environment.”For proof, look no further than the most recent names etched on hockey’s most coveted chalice. The Penguins have won series in all kinds of ways over the last two years. They’ve dominated. They’ve rallied. Mostly, they’ve survived. And the Flyers have noticed.”They have all the pieces,” Philadelphia center Claude Giroux said. ”On paper they’re a really good team and in the playoffs they always find a way.”The Flyers, however, present a unique challenge. Philadelphia hasn’t won a playoff series since it beat the favored Penguins in six sometimes chaotic games in 2012. The Flyers pulled off the upset thanks in part to a meltdown by Pittsburgh. The Penguins lost their composure at times, leading to a string of power plays that Philadelphia rode to victory.While the majority of the faces that will take the ice at PPG Paints Arena are different, the history of antagonism between the two clubs remains. Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby understands things are likely to get chippy. He’d prefer they not get out of hand.”I don’t think we’re looking to fight,” Crosby said. ”It will definitely be an intense series Womens Tom Pyatt Jersey , we know that.”One in which the erratic Flyers, who endured a 10-game winless streak around Thanksgiving, know they are the underdogs. That’s fine. In some ways, they’ve been one all season.”In reality, when you have to earn your way and your margin of error is pretty short all the way along, it tests you,” Philadelphia coach Dave Haksol said. ”Sometimes you pass the test. Sometimes you fail the test. It tests you and pushes you to get better.”Some things to look for as Philadelphia tries to put an abrupt end to Pittsburgh’s bid at winning a fourth Cup during the Crosby Era.POWER HOUR: The Penguins and their star-laden power play led the league and set a franchise record by scoring 26.2 percent of the time with the man advantage. Their number this season was just a touch better than the 26.0 the 1995-96 club posted, a group that included Hall of Famers Mario Lemieux and Ron Francis and future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr. The Flyers understand their best chance to pull off the upset will be by staying out of the penalty box.”They got special players that make special plays,” Giroux said. ”For us it’s to make sure we minimize those chances.”HOW SWEEP IT IS? The Penguins took all four meetings between the teams during the regular season, scoring five goals each time. Look closer, however Jordan Nolan Jersey Womens , and things are tighter than they seem. Both games in Pittsburgh ended with the Penguins escaping 5-4 following goals during the three-on-three overtime. There are no extra-period gimmicks in the playoffs.”I don’t think we’ve played our best game or a full 60 minutes against Pittsburgh yet,” Flyers forward Sean Couturier said. ”But I like our chances if we play some good hockey for 60 minutes, maybe even more.”BRASSARD BONANZA: Pittsburgh’s big move at the trade deadline was to bring in Derick Brassard from Ottawa to center the third line. Brassard appeared to be hitting his stride in late March before suffering a lower-body injury. He should be good to go in Game 1, and his presence gives the Penguins perhaps the best depth down the middle of any team in the league.”I’m just going to try and keep it simple early and go from there,” Brassard said.—