Kings hold off Ducks’ comeback attempt for 3-2 win

Drew Doughty still had enough energy to dole out extra-hard high-fives with teammates. Then he made a beeline off the ice as the first one into the Kings’ dressing room.

Rest was on tap, as was a simple explanation for how he and his teammates initially had more legs than the Ducks in their second game in as many days.

“We knew we had a little break after this game, so basically we weren’t going to leave anything in the tank; just kind of blow it all out there and play our hearts out,” Doughty said.

Those hearts were thumping hard in a hang-on-for-life third period, and didn’t rest until a 3-2 win Sunday ended a stretch of seven games in 11 days for the Kings, tied with the Ducks and Edmonton for first place with 21 points in the Pacific Division.

The Kings have played one more game, but they’ve also played five games without injured center Anze Kopitar and gone 3-1-1.

“We’ve got a pretty tough schedule,” Jeff Carter said. “This is the last game of our stretch here. It was a good character win for our team. I think guys really dug in and made it interesting in the end.”

Interesting was understatement. The Ducks outshot the Kings, 17-3, in the third period, and the Kings nearly lost a 3-0 lead built on Carter’s two second-period power-play goals.

Antoine Vermette deflected Hampus Lindholm’s shot during four-on-four play, and Rickard Rakell one-timed Jakob Silfverberg’s to pull Anaheim to 3-2. Ducks defenseman Josh Manson hit the post with 5:09 left, and the clank reverberated in Honda Center.

That soon gave way to Kings fans’ cheers. Anaheim regretted a start in which it had three empty power plays. It took the Ducks nearly 40 minutes to reach double digits in shots.

“They dominated us in the first two periods,” Rakell said. “I wish we would have played like we did in the last period the whole game. Maybe it would have been different, but we’ve just got to move forward and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Doughty sparked a dominant second period. He helped work the puck out from the boards, got it back and faked out defenseman Korbinian Holzer for a wrist shot to the far side for the game’s first goal.

Carter tapped in Tanner Pearson’s pass to finish a rush with Ryan Getzlaf in the penalty box. Not two minutes later, Doughty’s shot kicked up off Carter’s chest and into the net.

“I didn’t have to do a lot there,” Carter said. “It just hit me in the chest. I think I got it before it crossed the line, but I knew it was going in.”

Carter’s line has combined for 12 points in the last three games, a wave that wasn’t slowed much by the Ducks’ defensive line headed by Ryan Kesler. Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle credited the Kings “for the way they basically manhandled us along the wall.” The Ducks still seek a three-game win streak as consistency escapes them, as did an explanation.

“Usually these games are full of emotion and whatnot, but we just didn’t have any response,” Carlyle said. “Pucks were going through our sticks. We couldn’t execute a tape-to-tape pass, and we didn’t get involved physically until the third period.”