LOS ANGELES – Rickard Rakell had a goal and two assists in his season debut, and John Gibson stopped 30 shots to earn his seventh career shutout in the Anaheim Ducks' 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Antoine Vermette and Ryan Kesler scored power-play goals 31 seconds apart in the second period before Joseph Cramarossa scored his first NHL goal for the Ducks, who emphatically won the first Freeway Faceoff rivalry game of the season.
Vermette and Kesler scored two points apiece, and Corey Perry added two assists. The Ducks have earned points in five of six after an 0-3-1 start to the season.
The Kings have been shut out in three straight games for the first time since 1968-69, their second NHL season.
Los Angeles is on its second three-game skid of the season, with a four-game winning streak sandwiched between them.
Peter Budaj made 12 saves in his seventh straight start for Los Angeles before Jack Campbell replaced him in the third period.
The Kings and Ducks have been Stanley Cup contenders for the past half-decade in a golden age of Southern California hockey. Both veteran-laden clubs showed signs of age during slow starts to this season, but the Ducks appear to be hitting their stride.
Anaheim went ahead late in the first period when Ryan Kesler won a faceoff to Rakell, who alertly shot the puck through the legs of two Kings. The Swede missed training camp and the first nine regular-season games while holding out for a new contract and recovering from surgery related to appendicitis. He agreed to a six-year, $22.8 million deal on Oct. 14.
The Ducks added two more shortly after Jake Muzzin took a double minor for high-sticking. Vermette got his first goal for his new team on a setup from Rakell, and Kesler tipped home a pass from captain Ryan Getzlaf.
Cramarossa scored on a wraparound that deflected off two Kings midway through the period. The 24-year-old former third-round pick got his first goal in his fifth NHL game.
Campbell made five saves in his second career NHL appearance. He was the No. 11 pick in the 2010 draft by Dallas.
The rivals had a prolonged brawl midway through the third after Getzlaf held the stick of Jordan Nolan, who responded with a punch. Three players from each team got major penalties for fighting.
NOTES: Rakell's three points were more than he scored in his first 10 games last season (2). ... Kings D Drew Doughty doesn't turn 27 until next month, but the Norris Trophy winner pulled even with Mark Hardy for the 10th-most games played in Los Angeles franchise history with his 616th appearance. ... Anaheim LW Nick Ritchie went to the dressing room in the second period after a big hit from Los Angeles D Tom Gilbert. Ritchie spent the third being evaluated for an undisclosed injury.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Host Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
Kings: Host the Penguins on Thursday night.
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