Takeaways from the Ducks 3-0 Loss to the Kings

The Anaheim Ducks hosted the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night in their second of four preseason matchups between the Southern California rivals.

The Kings took the exhibition opener on Sunday in Ontario, CA, by a score of 3-1, but lineups in this game featured far more projected NHL roster players.

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Both the Ducks and Kings iced a full top-six forward group and potential top-four defensemen.

Lukas Dostal got his first action of the preseason, as he started this one and stopped 17 of 18 shots before he was pulled halfway through the second period, as was reportedly planned.

Dostal was replaced by Calle Clang, who stopped 10 of the 12 shots he faced in the second half of the game.

In the Kings†net stood Darcey Kuemper, who earned the shutout by saving all 14 shots he faced in this one.

“Whether it was a power play, whether it was five on five, the puck wasnâ€t our friend tonight,†Joel Quenneville said after the game. “Thatâ€s got to be a strength going forward. Thereâ€s some things that weâ€re trying to work on. Just like the penalty kill and establishing certain things, it all starts with having the puck, and starting with the puck, and that didnâ€t occur too much.â€

Here are my notes on this game (once again, itâ€s preseason, so everything is to be taken with a grain of salt):

Defensive Zone Coverage-While the Ducks didnâ€t get the early kills they are striving for in their new systems, they didnâ€t allow much penetration to the middle of the zone or second chance opportunities. When they were hemmed, and they were hemmed often, it remained nondisastrous.

Lukas Dostal-Dostal was in mid-season form early in this game. As stated, the truly dangerous chances were limited, but he was able to track pucks through traffic, as is becoming his trademark, and his rebound control was spectacular, deflecting those distance shots to the corners of the ice.

“Sometimes you have games where the puck sticks to your chest better than other games, but thatâ€s been something that Iâ€ve worked on this summer,†Dostal said after the game. “The last two seasons in the NHL showed me the guys are crashing the net quite a lot, so itâ€s something that I worked on this offseason to eliminate the rebounds and something I really focused on.â€

Jacob Trouba-Trouba had a tough start in his first action of the exhibition season. He was directly involved in all three Los Angeles goals against; his gaps were too sizable, his closing speed wasnâ€t there, and he uncharacteristically struggled to properly box out Fiala on LAâ€s third goal.

The Ducks have a few days off, after which, they will next head to Bakersfield to take on the Kings again on Saturday for their fourth of seven preseason games.

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