Stanley Cup Playoffs 2014, Ducks at Kings Game 7 final score: Los Angeles advances to conference finals with blowout win
By Josh Sanchez
On Friday night, the Los Angeles Kings traveled to the Honda Center to take on the Anaheim Ducks in Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinals match up. The winner of the series would advance to the conerence finals where they would take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.
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Anaheim was hoping that the support of their home crowd would give them the edge to get past the Kings, but things went south fast and the Ducks were never able to fully recover as Los Angeles went on to earn a 6-2 win.
Just over four minutes into the game, the Kings got on the board with a goal from Justin Williams. Mike Richards and Slava Voynov recorded the assists. It didn’t get much better for the Ducks, as Jeff Carter recorded a second goal just a few minutes later.
With all of the momentum in their corner, the Kings were having their way with the Ducks as Mike Richards added a third goal for Los Angeles before the first period came to an end.
After the break, Anaheim looked to regroup, but the Kings picked right up where they left off.
A quick goal from Anze Kopitar put the Kings up 4-0, before Marian Gaborik found the back of the net for his ninth goal of the postseason to put Los Angeles up with a commanding 5-0 lead.
There was some good news for the Ducks in the second period, however, with a late goal from Kyle Palmieri.
During the second period, Anaheim pulled struggling rookie netminder John Gibson, who gave up four goals in 18 shots, in favor of veteran Jonas Hiller.
Corey Perry built on the little bit of momentum of Palmieri’s goal by getting the Ducks on the board with a second goal just over three minutes into the final period. Unfortunately for Anaheim, the Kings answered back with a goal by Tanner Pearson to reclaim a four-goal advantage and that was all that Los Angeles needed to earn the win.
With the win, the Kings will take on the Blackhawks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Sunday afternoon.