Kings becoming a bit too familiar

After the Ducks completed practice Saturday, Coach Randy Carlyle stood outside the team’s locker room at the Honda Center and gave a one-word reply when asked about playing the Kings tonight.

“Again!” he said, making his feelings clear about facing the Ducks’ Southern California neighbors for the fifth time in less than two months.

“We played them in our first two games in England and we’ve played them twice since,” said Carlyle, whose Ducks lead the series, 2-1-1. He later added, “This will be game five. So we’re more than halfway there.”

Because the Ducks and Kings are in the same division, they will play each other eight times this season. For Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, that’s a couple too many.

“I see why [the NHL] wants to do that because those games are definitely more important than any other games we play,” Giguere said. “But I don’t think it is the right thing to do. . . . It does get a little bit monotonous.”

The Ducks have picked up nine points in their last six games, and Carlyle says the key is to stay focused on the game plan.

“There’s lots of room for improvement for us,” he said. “We are more into self-analysis than we are into trying to analyze what other teams are doing. We have our own fair share of concerns.”

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Despite a sluggish start, the Ducks are still within striking distance of first place -- two points behind Dallas -- in the Pacific Division heading into tonight’s game.

“We’ve been up and down . . . we have to get some consistency,” forward Samuel Pahlsson said.

“I think we’re making progress. . . . Except for our last game [a shootout loss to Phoenix on Friday], we have been playing better. Maybe we may not win every game, but we’re showing signs.”

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TONIGHT

Kings vs. Ducks, 5 p.m., FSN Prime Ticket

Site -- Honda Center.

Radio -- 830, 1150.

Records -- Ducks 10-9-4, Kings 9-12-1.

Series record -- Ducks lead, 2-1-1.

Update -- The Ducks defeated the Kings twice in a three-day span earlier this month. Corey Perry had two goals and an assist and Chris Kunitz added three assists in the Ducks’ 6-3 victory the last time the teams met, Nov. 15 at Staples Center.

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lonnie.white@latimes.com