LOS ANGELES – David Perron scored the go-ahead power-play goal in the second period and the surging Anaheim Ducks earned their 11th consecutive victory, beating the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Saturday and taking over sole possession of the Pacific Division lead from their Southern California rivals.
The Ducks trailed the Kings by as many as 16 points on the morning of Jan. 20.
But since then, Anaheim has gone 18-1-1 and Los Angeles 9-9-1. The teams each have 18 games left, including one more matchup on April 7 at Los Angeles.
The Ducks, trying to win a fourth straight division title, lead the season series 3-1 and have won 11 of the past 14 regular-season meetings overall — including a 4-2 victory last Sunday at Honda Center.
Ryan Kesler and Jacob Silfverberg also scored for Anaheim and Frederik Andersen made 32 saves in his first start against the Kings this season, helping Bruce Boudreau earn his 400th regular-season coaching victory.
Perron extended the Ducks' streak of consecutive games with a power-play goal to 11, tying the franchise record set in March 1997. They are 19 for 43 during this streak.
Milan Lucic and Drew Doughty scored power-play goals for the Kings and Jonathan Quick stopped 19 shots.
Perron gave Anaheim a 2-1 lead at 15:57 of the second, redirecting Cam Fowler's 50-foot wrist shot from the slot past Quick's stick just 10 seconds after Tanner Pearson was sent off for holding Perron. It was his 12th goal this season and eighth in 21 games since joining the Ducks in a trade with Pittsburgh on Jan. 15.
Silfverberg made it 3-1 just 2:24 into the third period with his 18th goal while Vincent Lecavalier was penalized for interference.
The Kings got that one back, as Doughty scored while Nate Thompson was off for hooking.
Kesler, playing in his 800th regular-season game, opened the scoring at 3:16 of the second period with his 14th goal. He jumped on a loose puck at the Kings' blue line, carried it toward the slot unchecked and used defenseman Brayden McNabb as a screen to beat Quick to the glove side with a 30-foot wrist shot.
Lucic tied it at 11:14 of the period with his 15th goal while Fowler was off for slashing Jeff Carter. Andersen stopped a point-blank wrist shot by Lucic and thought he had the puck trapped between his pads, but it trickled behind him and Lucic poked it over the line.
What began as a routine collision along the boards between Kyle Clifford and Ducks leading goal-scorer Corey Perry in the Los Angeles zone at 6:58 of the first period turned into a shoving match between them — then escalated and resulted in 66 penalty minutes in one fell swoop.
Fighting majors were assessed to Rickard Rakell and Kevin Bieksa of the Ducks, along with Andy Andreoff and Kris Versteeg of the Kings. Andreoff and Bieksa received game misconducts, while Anaheim's Jamie McGinn and Los Angeles' Luke Schenn got 10-minute misconducts.
After it was all sorted out by referees Brad Meier and Ian Walsh, Anaheim ended up with a power-play opportunity that the Kings killed off.
The Ducks are a league-best 25-4-2 since Christmas. They have won 11 straight games against division opponents, and are 12-1-3 in their past 16 road games overall — including six straight victories away from Honda Center.
Andersen tied a career best with his seventh straight victory and is 13-0-1 in his past 13 decisions. His last regulation loss was on Dec. 21 against the Islanders in Brooklyn.
NOTES: Quick earned an assist on the Kings' goal with a long clearing pass off the boards that Vincent Lecavalier caught up with before setting up Lucic. . Anaheim has allowed 15 power-play goals in its past 16 games. The Kings have given up 13 power-play goals over their past 14 games. . The Ducks began the day averaging the second-most penalty minutes in the league (12.4). A victory Monday night at home against Washington would enable the Ducks to tie Chicago and Florida for the longest winning streaks in the league this season.
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