LA Kings vs Anaheim Ducks in the Freeway Faceoff: Who Rules SoCal Hockey?

The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings have renewed their rivalry, as both teams are prominently positioned in the NHL’s Western Conference, but who REALLY runs SoCal Hockey? Much will be decided in the aftermath of the Freeway Faceoff series and the upcoming Outdoor Classic at Dodger Stadium

By DucksFanZone | January 23, 2014 | 164 views | Follow @DucksFanZone

The Freeway Faceoff between crosstown Southern Californian rivals the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings is, by NHL standards, a young rivalry.

But it’s already filled with great history. Both teams have won Stanley Cup championships since the 2005 lockout. They have faced off against each other to open a season in London’s O2 arena. They have provided Southern Californian fans with high intensity hockey games to fuel a bitter inter-fan rivalry. And though the rivalry hasn’t reached its form of a playoff matchup between the two teams, another important point in the history of the Freeway Faceoff is coming up in a matter of days when the two teams will face off under the Southern Californian sky at Dodger Stadium.

The Ducks will face off against the Kings on Thursday before the Saturday contest and the home and home series will be crucial for both teams. Two wins for the Kings could make up for the points disparity between the two teams in the standings. Two wins for the Ducks could give them a ton of breathing room between them and the Kings in the Pacific division race, as well as guaranteeing they finish the month of January with at least 83 points (with the potential for 87).

So who has been the more dominant of the two SoCal hockey teams in recent years? The Kings have the more recent Stanley Cup. It can be argued that over the last two years, it’s been the Kings who have been wearing the crown (pun intended). In the 2013 truncated season, the Ducks finished 2nd in the Western Conference and 3^rd in league standings with a 7-point advantage on Los Angeles. It was a season to remember for the Ducks, but they faltered in the first round – losing to the Detroit Red Wings. LA lost the battle for the division, but they took their run as far as the Western Conference finals, eventually losing to the champion Chicago Blackhawks in 5 games.

2011-2012 clearly belonged to the Los Angeles Kings. Although they were 8^th in the Western Conference standings, they went on to win the Stanley Cup while the Ducks floundered to the tune of a 34-36-12 record. They finished 6^th to last in the NHL standings and were a good 16 points out of LA’s 8^th seed. In the 2010-11 regular season, it was a virtual wash between the two teams. Anaheim finished with 99 points and the 4^th seed in the playoffs while LA finished with 98 points and the 7^th seed. The Ducks had more goals for (239 to 219) and the Kings had fewer goals allowed (198 to 235). Both teams exited the playoffs with 4-2 series losses to San Jose and Nashville. Anaheim gets the slight advantage there for finishing with home ice advantage in an ultra-tight Western conference race, as it was victories against the Kings that put them there. The 2009-10 the Ducks missed the playoffs by virtue of only getting 89 points. While the Kings made the playoffs with 101 points.

Objectively speaking, the Kings have been the more successful team over the past 5 years. General manager Dean Lombardi has put together a team that can hang with the best of them (after years of rebuilding) and head coach Darryl Sutter has turned the core into a group that emphasizes puck possession, tight defense designed to infuriate their opponents, and lots of scoring opportunities whenever possible. Like it or not, from a Ducks perspective, the Kings have become an elite force in the league. Even if it took them about 40 years to get there, they’ve arrived.

However, it seems as though the tide may soon be turning in Anaheim’s favor. Over the last two seasons (or call it one and a half if you want) the Ducks have posted a record of 67-22-11 while the Kings have put up a 56-32-11 record. Which in and of itself is a terrific record but Anaheim clearly has the regular season edge over the past 90 games. This season Anaheim has a 15-point advantage over the Kings with 30 games to go. They also have a much larger advantage in goal differential (Anaheim’s is +48 and LA’s is +23) with 177 goals for to LA’s 131.

Anaheim finds themselves atop the league by a four point margin on the second place Blackhawks while LA finds themselves sitting in 6^th place in the Western Conference race and 8^th among the entire league. With two wins this weekend the Ducks could expand their Pacific Division lead on the Kings to 19 points. This would put 10 games in 31 remaining between the two rivals, leaving only San Jose as the Ducks’ only competition for their second straight Pacific division title. San Jose trails Anaheim by 9 points with 2 fewer games played. Assuming they win out those two games the Sharks will only (in theory) be behind Anaheim with 5 points. To ensure home ice advantage in the playoffs the Ducks double-header with the Kings this weekend have become the biggest games of the season to date. Hopefully the Ducks do not become too distracted by the spectacle of the Stadium Series game and they remember what’s at stake.

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