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Every Kings fan’s nightmare comes to life: Ducks 4, Kings 2, Quick pulled.

By Helene Elliott
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And the playoff-bound team in this game is the Kings?

Jonathan Quick was pulled after giving up three goals on eight shots, the final straw being an utter breakdown behind the net. Quick went out to play the puck, but his pass to Randy Jones was a weak one; Jones muffed it altogether and Bobby Ryan pounced on the puck and deposited it into the empty net at 2:01 of the second period for a 3-0 lead.

Coach Terry Murray sent Erik Ersberg in to replace Quick -- Jonathan Bernier undoubtedly was too far away -- and the Kings did get a goal back on Dustin Brown’s backhander at 9:46. But Teemu Selanne ripped a shot from the left circle past Ersberg during a power play, his second goal of the game and 26th of his injury-shortened season, to make it 4-1.

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Alexander Frolov cut the Kings’ deficit to 4-2 during a power play at 16:41. That gave the Kings fans in the stands at the Honda Center a rare reason to cheer on a night their team wasn’t giving them many other reasons to be optimistic.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports

--Helene Elliott

Sports Now
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

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