Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Marian Gaborik picked right up where he left off.
The hero of Game 1 couldn’t have started Game 2 any better as his goal 0:34 into the first period jump-started the Los Angeles Kings to a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 2 of their best-of-seven second round series.
Game 3 is Thursday night in Los Angeles. The Kings lead the series 2-0.
Gaborik, who tied the game with seven seconds left and won it in overtime in Game 1, flew up the left wing past Ducks’ defenseman Ben Lovejoy and flung it top shelf over the shoulder of Jonas Hiller to put the Kings up 1-0.
After Patrick Maroon knotted the game at 1-1 with a power play goal, the Kings would get it right back.
Alec Martinez would get his second goal in as many games as his slap shot from the point was deflected off Jakob Silfverberg past Hiller to put the Kings up 2-1 midway through the first frame.
The Ducks continued to pepper Jonathan Quick with shots but to no avail. The Olympian stopped 36 of 37 shots and preserved the lead for Los Angeles throughout the second and third periods.
With Hiller off to the bench for an extra attacker in the waning moments of the third period, Dwight King picked up the loose puck in the Ducks zone and fired it into the empty net to seal the fate for the Ducks.
Anaheim will now have to win at Staples Center in order to get back in the series.
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