ANAHEIM, Calif. – Like Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya, marquee Southern California centres Anze Kopitar and Ryan Getzlaf have traded blows in their Pacific Division prize fight. In Game 2, the score cards read increasingly in favor of Kopitar and his Kings, who lead the Battle of Los Angeles 2-0 heading into Wednesday’s third tilt.
Coming into the series, Getzlaf said he relished the opportunity to go heads-up against Kopitar and the Ducks stuck with the matchup at home, despite having often used Saku Koivu against Kopitar in the past. As Game 2 wore on, Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau took advantage of the last change and got Getzlaf’s line away from the matchup. “Kopitar’s line was dominating them,” Boudreau said. “We had to move something around to get away from it, so that (Getzlaf’s) line could get something accomplished.”
That domination was apparent at even strength and on the penalty kill, where Kopitar shines.
Kopitar has also sizzled offensively with 14 points in nine playoff games and three multi-point outings in his past four contests. He has been on the ice for every Kings goal in the series—figuring into the scoring on four of the five—and just one against, Pat Maroon’s 4-on-3 tally in Game 2. Kopitar’s aggressive checking, patient play with puck, sound defensive coverage and deft passing have been critical for the Kings, who have often had long puck-possession droughts in the series.
Getzlaf has also contributed, playing a three-zone game and assisting on each of Anaheim’s three goals in the series. However, he was held without a shot through most of the third period and overtime in Game 1 and found himself with few quality opportunities in Game 2. He’s clearly been frustrated at times.
The Ducks have gotten good efforts from a number of players like Andrew Cogliano, Devante Smith-Pelly, Cam Fowler and Maroon, but the results have not been there. Getzlaf’s running mate Corey Perry has been held scoreless with a minus-2 rating, though he did generate five shots on goal in Game 2. “They’re arguably the best duo in the league,” Kings captain Dustin Brown said. “They complement each other really well. I think our ‘D’ have made it hard in front of our net, first and foremost. I think we’ve done an OK job taking away [Getzlaf’s] passing, he’s a pass-first player.”
By contrast, the Kings have gotten major mileage from their top players. Kopitar has been aided by Marian Gaborik, who notched a sort of aggregate natural hat trick beating the Game 1 buzzer to force overtime, netting the winner in OT and opening the scoring 34 seconds into Game 2. In sum, he scored three goals in less than 13 minutes. “When you put him and Kopi together they’re like this dynamic duo. When they’re both on their games, it’s hard to stop him,” defenceman Drew Doughty said.
Jonathan Quick made 36 of 37 stops, turning in another incredible performance even if both clubs did not feel Anaheim was getting as many prime scoring chances as in Game 1. The Ducks did try to agitate Quick and succeeded once as Corey Perry’s skates-first slide into the crease prompted Quick to send a jab to Perry’s groin, earning him the netminder a roughing minor. “We’re going to have to do something about that,” Doughty said about Perry’s antics around the crease.
Doughty has also figured heavily into the Kings’ success against Anaheim’s top players. He said he felt Kopitar’s line and the Kings’ defence corps had done a “good job” on Getzlaf and Perry, with some room to improve off the rush and on special teams.
At first hesitant to make as strong of an evaluation as Boudreau did, Doughty made it fairly clear who he felt was winning the individual battle. “I can’t really say one’s playing better than the other just because it wouldn’t be the right thing to say but, uh, obviously I’d take Kopi,” Doughty said.