Ducks clinch playoff spot

Qualifying for the playoffs has felt like a formality for the Ducks, who had talked more about readying their game for the postseason even though they hadn’t secured a spot.

Now it’s official. The Stanley Cup champions can start having some thoughts about a repeat.

The Ducks are in the playoffs for a third consecutive season, clinching a spot against their rivals, the Kings, in a 2-1 shootout victory Wednesday night in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 17,331 at the Honda Center.

Claiming their club-record 10th consecutive home win, the Ducks (44-26-8) can now turn toward securing home ice for the first round with key games against San Jose and Dallas this weekend.

“The goal at the beginning of the year obviously is to make the playoffs,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “Historically, that’s been a challenge for teams that have had success the year before.”

Mathieu Schneider’s goal in the sixth round of the shootout finally broke a goaltending duel between rookies Jonas Hiller of the Ducks and Erik Ersberg of the Kings.

The Ducks outscored the Kings, 2-1, in the shootout.

Making his third consecutive start in place of the injured Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Hiller stopped 31 shots in regulation and overtime.

It was with 15.5 seconds remaining in regulation when he flat-out saved his teammates and got them the point they needed.

Schneider lost control of the puck as he tried to shoot in the Kings’ zone and Alexander Frolov took off in the other direction on a clear breakaway.

Frolov faked Hiller to his right and tried to come back to the goalie’s stick side. Hiller somehow managed to stretch his left pad out to deny the high-scoring winger.

“I didn’t have time to think about anything at that time,” Hiller said. “Sure, it’s a breakaway. It doesn’t really depend on when it comes, whether it’s the first minute or the last minute.

“You just try to focus and do what you always try to do and [that’s] stop the puck.”

Said Carlyle: “That’s what you have goaltenders for. That’s what they’re supposed to do. Stop the puck.”

The play got Schneider off the hook and he was appreciative afterward.

“It was set up for a one-timer and I kind of bobbled it,” Schneider said. “He made a unbelievable save. It was one of the best saves I’ve seen in a long time.”

Hiller gave up only Patrick O’Sullivan’s power-play goal in the first period. Ersberg matched him save for save as he was tested throughout and finished with 39 stops.

It took a counterattack by the Ducks on the power play to break through in the second period.

Kings forward Matt Ellis took a shot off a short-handed rush that Ducks defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron managed to deflect well wide of the net in the Anaheim zone.

Bobby Ryan picked up the wayward puck and carried it along the left boards. Instead of driving in off the wing, he made a move inside the blue line to the high slot.

Using Kings defenseman Jon Klemm as a screen, Ryan whipped a shot that got a piece of the defenseman’s stick and flew past Ersberg on the stick side with eight seconds left on Raitis Ivanans’ minor penalty for holding the stick.

Until then, the Ducks continued to struggle offensively without injured forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. They did manage to put the puck on the net after getting only 17, 13 and 15 shots total in their last three games.

But they soon learned that Ersberg isn’t quite the sieve that other Kings goaltenders have periodically been in this dreadful season.

Ersberg held his own in the third, when the Ducks pushed forward but couldn’t get any of their 16 shots by him.

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eric.stephens@latimes.com