Anaheim Ducks vs. Los Angeles Kings – Live Stream, Tips and Stanley Cup Game 5 Preview
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) 6
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1 Get NHL Alerts The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings continue their ‘Freeway Series’ tonight, with both teams seeking a series lead.
The game takes place at the Honda Center, Anaheim and is scheduled to start at 03:00 BST.
The game is streaming live online with bet365.
Watch Kings at Ducks live here:
Preview (Series currently tied 2-2): LAST GAME – Anaheim 2 Los Angeles 0 DUCKS EXPECTED LINES: Smith-Pelly – Getzlaf – Perry / Maroon – Bonino – Selanne / Cogliano – Koivu – Silfverberg / Winnik – Rakell – Palmieri EXPECTED PAIRINGS: Beauchemin – Lindholm / Allen – Vatanen / Lovejoy – Fowler EXPECTED GOALTENDER: Gibson The Anaheim Ducks flipped the script in games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles, brushing aside a 2-0 series deficit to storm back into relevance with two consecutive victories. Game four was one of the more remarkable and unique games of the playoffs, and the Ducks will try and carry the momentum over from that game into Monday’s clash with the Kings, where they can grab their first lead of the series. The story from Saturday night’s 2-0 Anaheim victory was unquestionably the play of rookie goaltender John Gibson, who recorded a shutout in his first career playoff game. Head coach Bruce Boudreau made the gutsy decision to go with the 20-year old Gibson on Saturday morning, immediately following his call-up from minor league club Norfolk. In just 3 regular season games preceding, Gibson was undefeated, and had shown that he was unquestionably the future of the Ducks in net. On Saturday night, he gave credence to the belief that the future is now, making 28 saves in a truly remarkable performance that now situates him firmly in the Ducks crease as the starter for the club moving forward. Lost in all of the Gibson hype from Saturday night was the re-emergence of the Ducks first line, with big-scorers Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry looking like they’ve finally found a fit at let wing. 21 year old Devante Smith-Pelly was slotted into the role in advance of game four, and was stellar in netting the game winning goal on four shots in 19:06 of ice time. His placement also seemed to ignite Perry and Getzlaf, with the latter notching his first goal of the series along with an assist, and Perry potting 2 assists. Indeed, it is absolutely essential to the Ducks success that their first line click on all cylinders, and must be a relief to Boudreau that he appears to finally have found the right match for his superstar pairing. KINGS EXPECTED LINES: Gaborik – Kopitar – Brown / Pearson – Carter – Toffoli / King – Stoll – Williams / Clifford – Richards – Lewis EXPECTED PAIRINGS: Muzzin – Doughty / Schultz – Voynov / Martinez – Greene EXPECTED GOALTENDER: Quick After taking a 2-0 series lead with a pair of dominant performance in games 1 and 2 in Anaheim, it looked to all the world like the Los Angeles Kings were on their way to a third consecutive Conference Final appearance. Two unexpectedly strong performances from the Ducks later, and they find themselves reeling, heading back to Anaheim with the series tied at 2-2. Now, it is up to their experienced core to right the ship, and get them back in a situation where they can re-capture the series lead in game five. One of the keys to game five will be for the Kings to test Ducks rookie goaltender Gibson more than they did on Saturday. Los Angeles may have outshot Anaheim 28-14 on the night, but most of their chances were of the perimeter variety, and the rookie was forced into few game-saving heroics late. Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik combined for five shots on goal, but were held mostly at bay for a second consecutive game by an impressive effort from the Ducks. Another key for the Kings will be shutting down the Ducks first line, which has gotten the better of them for two straight games on the hop. Tasked with the shut-down role in game four were the pairing of Jake Muzzin and Drew Doughty, neither of whom fits the archetypical role of shut-down blue liner. Look for Los Angeles to try and employ the big bodies of Kyle Clifford, Mike Richards and Trevor Lewis in that role on Monday night, as they try and find the right combination to do halt what has been an impressive surge of late from the Ducks superstars. BOTTOM LINE: In a series which has already been full of unexpected twists and turns, Monday’s happenings have to be considered among the most unexpected, and dramatic, in the 2014 playoffs. Now, it is up to Gibson and the Ducks to have an encore on Monday night, where they will look for a critical home ice victory, and a series lead. But it’s not just up to Gibson to turn in another spectacular performance; it is also up to the Ducks offensive depth to produce more than it did on Saturday night (the first line combined for 7 of their 14 shots), and for them to employ a more dangerous two-way game. They are clicking on all cylinders right now though, and it’s hard to imagine a team that was one of the league’s best at home during the regular season (29-8-4) losing three straight, no matter who the opponent. >Pick: Anaheim.
