goal

LAS VEGAS — Perhaps you were a little surprised when the Ducks, who haven’t had a winning record in seven seasons, led the Pacific Division for most of the season, or when they made the playoffs for the first time since 2018, or when they eliminated the Edmonton Oilers — who played in the last two Stanley Cup Finals — in the first round of the playoffs this spring.

If you were surprised by any of that, wait until you hear what they’ve done now.

Because with a dominant 3-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday in Game 2 of a best-of-seven playoff series, the Ducks evened the series at a win apiece and wrested home-ice advantage away from the division champions. Now they come home for Game 3 on Friday with a strong wind at their backs in a series they were supposed to lose.

“We kept the momentum and we’re headed home, which is fantastic,” center Ryan Poehling said.

If the series goes a full seven games, the Ducks will play three of the last five game at home where — would it surprise you to learn? — they had the best home record in the division this season?

But it’s not just that the Ducks won, but how they won that’s important. The younger, speedier team has skated rings around the older — and frustrated — Golden Knights, who have made the playoffs eight times in nine years, winning a Stanley Cup in 2023. Two games into this series, however, the plodding Golden Knights have looked like they’re skating through quicksand at times and have really had no answer for Anaheim in this series.

“The way to beat them is just outpacing them,” Poehling said. “And it’s not just with speed. It’s how we play. Guys are supporting one another, and you saw that. Tonight was kind of a game plan of what we want to do to win, for sure.

Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke celebrates after scoring in the second period against the Golden Knights in Game 2 on Wednesday.

(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

“We didn’t like how Game 1 ended, but we liked our game. That’s hockey sometimes. You can play the right way, do all the right things, we end up losing.”

The Golden Knights won Game 1 when a blown icing call allowed them to score the go-ahead goal before adding an insurance goal into an empty net. So the Ducks made sure one play wouldn’t decide Game 2, taking their first lead of the series on a Beckett Sennecke goal midway through the second period.

“We had some great opportunities to score first,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “Finding a way to score first was important.”

The Ducks also scored second and third, with Leo Carlsson doubling the lead 6:36 into the third period before Jansen Harkins scored into an empty net with 3:30 to play to ice things. That didn’t end the drama though because the Ducks were six seconds away from their first shutout of the season when Vegas’ Mark Stone scored a power-play goal into an empty net.

For the Ducks, that goal spoiled nothing.

“It doesn’t matter,” goalie Lukas Dostal said. “It doesn’t matter how you win, where the score is. Obviously it’s always the cherry on the top. But it doesn’t really matter. We got a W and that’s all we focus on.”

Maybe. But after a regular season in which the Ducks gave up more than 3.5 goals a game, most of any playoff qualifier, the defensive effort was…. well, surprising.

And important.

“That’s not our tradition of playing that type of game. Low-scoring affair, when we score first and we’re leading throughout,” Quenneville said.

Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal protects the net in front of Vegas forward Tomas Hertl during the second period.

(John Locher / Associated Press)

But if the Ducks hope to make a long playoff run, that’s the blueprint they’ll have to follow.

“The only way you’re going to be successful in the playoffs is you’ve got to win games like tonight,” said Quenneville, whose three Stanley Cup wins with Chicago are the most by an active NHL coach. “We showed that it’s going to take everybody to play these type of games. And everybody contributed.”

“We’re picking a good time,” added defenseman Jacob Trouba “to play our best hockey.”

Still, the Ducks’ best hockey can get better. Anaheim was for 0 for Las Vegas on the power play, failing to score on nine opportunities with the man advantage in the two games — including an eight-minute stretch in the first period when Vegas had one, and sometimes two, players in the penalty box.

“We had some great chances on the power play,” said Quenneville, whose team scored on half of their 16 power-play chances in the first-round series with Edmonton. Vegas, however, has killed 19 straight penalties and 24 of 25 in the postseason.

Ducks forward Leo Carlsson scores past Vegas goaltender Carter Hart during the first period Wednesday.

(John Locher / Associated Press)

Yet that wasn’t good enough for the sweep at home, so the once-favored Golden Knights must break serve in Anaheim.

“They split here. We’ve got to go in and try to get a game out of there,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “We’re going to keep our composure and get about our business. This team has always been really good in these type of situations, so I have full confidence we’re going to find our way.”

If the Golden Knights fail to do that, they just might be in for a surprise.

Bukayo Saka reacts quickest as Leandro Trossard’s shot is saved by Jan Oblak, putting in the rebound from close range to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead against Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Emiates Stadium.

MATCH REPORT: Champions League – Arsenal 1-0 Atletico Madrid (2-1 agg)

Available to UK users only.

SEOUL, May 6 (UPI) — North Korea has revised its constitution to remove all references to reunification with South Korea, a document shared by Seoul’s Unification Ministry showed Wednesday, formalizing leader Kim Jong Un’s push to redefine inter-Korean ties as relations between two separate states.

The document, which was shared at a news conference by the ministry, removes language calling for the “peaceful reunification” of the Korean Peninsula that had been part of the North’s constitution since a 1992 revision.

The new version codifies a policy shift Kim first laid out in 2024, when he abandoned Pyongyang’s long-standing goal of reunification and defined South Korea as an adversary.

At a March meeting of North Korea’s rubber-stamp legislature, where the revision is believed to have been adopted, Kim called for recognizing South Korea as the “most hostile state.”

However, the revised constitution did not define South Korea as a “primary foe” or “hostile state,” despite Kim’s increasingly confrontational rhetoric toward Seoul, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The new constitution also introduces language defining North Korea’s territory as bordering China and Russia to the north and South Korea to the south.

It does not specifically address maritime boundary lines, including the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea known as the Northern Limit Line. The NLL, which was drawn unilaterally by the U.S.-led United Nations Command after the Korean War, has long been a source of tension between the two Koreas.

The waters around the boundary, which Pyongyang does not recognize, have been the site of multiple naval clashes since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, including the 2010 including the North’s 2010 torpedo attack on a South Korean warship that left 46 dead.

In January 2024, Kim called the line “illegal” and warned that even the slightest violation of the North’s territory would be considered a “war provocation.”

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought to ease inter-Korean tensions since taking office in June, calling for the resumption of dialogue and making conciliatory gestures such as dismantling border propaganda loudspeakers.

Pyongyang has largely ignored those overtures while continuing to expand its military posture. In April, North Korea conducted several weapons tests, including tactical ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads and electronic warfare systems.

The revision also elevates Kim’s position as “head of state,” further consolidating his authority over state affairs and the country’s nuclear forces.

LAS VEGAS — T-Mobile Arena sits just off the Las Vegas Strip, not far from a faux Manhattan skyline, a pyramid and a casino made to look like a castle.

The line separating illusion from reality can be a thin one in Sin City, where the Ducks opened the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs Monday intent on proving their first-round victory over the Edmonton Oilers was more than a facade. It didn’t go well, with Brett Howden’s goal early in the second period and Ivan Barbashev’s tie-breaking tally late in the third period giving the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-1 victory in the best-of-seven series.

Mitch Marner added an empty-net goal with six seconds to play to end any hope of a Ducks comeback. Mikael Granlund scored for the Ducks with six minutes left in the game. Game 2 is in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

The Ducks were a shadow of the team that eliminated Edmonton. After averaging a playoff-high 4.33 goals a game, the Ducks were stymied by Vegas goalie Carter Hart, who turned away 33 shots. And after converting eight of 16 power-play opportunities against the Oilers, the Ducks were shut out in four chances against the Golden Knights.

Although the Ducks played their best defensive game of the postseason, giving up just 21 shots, the balanced Knights gave them few good scoring opportunities, especially on the power play.

The Ducks, who needed to use their superior speed to counter the Knights’ edge in experience, pushed the pace in the opening period but got nothing to show for it. The Knights took the lead less than four minutes into the second period when Howden made a dash to the edge of the crease to deflect in a pass from Marner for his fifth goal of the playoffs.

Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson celebrates after Mitch Marner’s empty-net goal in the final seconds of a 3-1 win over the Ducks on Monday.

(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

Howden had a chance to double the lead less than six minutes before the second intermission, but he whiffed trying to bat a loose puck in an open net from the right side.

Mark Stone had an opportunity to score on the power play with less than nine minutes left, but Ducks’ goalie Lukas Dostal made a spectacular save to keep it a one-goal game. And that paid off when Granlund put the puck through Brayden McNabb’s legs 2½ minutes later.

The tie was short-lived, however, with Barbashev redirecting in a pass from Pavel Dorofeyev for the go-ahead goal. Ducks players and coaches vehemently protested, believing officials missed an icing call before the goal.

The Ducks mounted a furious rally after pulling Dostal with about two minutes to play, but that ended with Marner clearing the puck the length of the ice into the empty net.

Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards believe Benjamin Sesko’s goal against Liverpool should not have stood after it brushed his fingers, saying under the laws of the game it should have been a handball.

MATCH REPORT: Premier League – Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool

Available to UK users only.

SAN DIEGO — Ryan Hollingshead scored his first goal this season in the 14th minute of stoppage time and Denis Bouanga added a goal for LAFC on Saturday night in a 2-2 tie with San Diego FC.

Mathieu Choiniere’s soft header off a corner kick played to the back post by David Martinez bounced in front of the goal and Hollingshead slammed home the finish to cap the scoring.

Marcus Ingvartsen scored two goals — his first career multi-goal game in MLS — for San Diego.

Anders Dreyer played a corner kick to the near post and Ingvartsen headed home the finish to open the scoring in the seventh minute.

On the counter-attack, Dreyer played a cross from the right side to Ingvartsen, who knocked down the ball with his first touch and then blasted a shot from the center of the area inside the left post and into the side-net to make it 2-0 in the 71st minute.

Ingvartsen has seven goals and two assists this season. The 30-year-old had two goals and one assist in eight appearances, five starts, in 2025, his first season in MLS.

Denis Bouanga scored in the 82nd minute, LAFC’s first shot on goal. Bouanga, who has scored at least 20 goals in each of the last three seasons, has five goals this season.

LAFC (6-2-3) beat Minnesota 1-0 last time out to snap a three-game winless streak.

San Diego (3-5-3) snapped a five-game losing streak.

CJ Dos Santos made his season debut and had three saves for San Diego but left due to injury in stoppage time and was replaced by Duran Ferree. The 24-year-old Dos Santos, who had 10 shutouts last season, suffered a fractured cheekbone and orbital floor fracture in a playoff loss at Portland on Nov. 1.

Mathias Laborda scored in the 82nd minute for the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night, sealing a 1-1 tie with the Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson.

The Whitecaps (8-1-1), who were only the second MLS team in the post-shootout era (since 2000) to win eight of their first nine games to begin a season, had their club regular-season record four-game win streak snapped.

Sebastian Berhalter played a free kick from the left side to the back post and Laborda headed home the finish from point-blank range to cap the scoring.

The Whitecaps had 58% possession and outshot the Galaxy 19-7, including a 5-2 edge in on target shots.

Joseph Paintsil opened the scoring in the 46th minute. Lucas Sanabria, in the opening seconds of the second half, stole a misplayed ball from Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka and fed Paintsil for a finish from the right side of the area.

JT Marcinkowski had four saves for the Galaxy (3-4-4).

Takaoka finished with one save.

Ruby Cochrane and Olga Nikolaeva epitomized the mindset Mira Costa brought to Saturday afternoon’s Southern Section Division 1 girls’ beach volleyball championship match at Long Beach City College.

Trailing 13-9 in the deciding third set of their match against JSerra’s top duo of Sara Moynihan and Emma Champagne, the Stanford-bound seniors rallied to win the last six points and complete the Mustangs’ 5-0 sweep to reclaim the title they lost 3-2 to league rival Redondo Union last spring.

“We wanted to end our senior year with a bang and not be the only pair to lose,” Cochrane said.

Upon receiving the championship plaque, players formed a circle and took turns kissing it as they passed it around.

Mira Costa captured its third title in four tries since the CIF sanctioned the sport in 2023 and when you add the eight Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League titles the Mustangs won prior to that they deserve to be called queens of the beach.

Our coach was like, ‘you’re capable of coming back,’ so we had to do it,” Nikolaeva added. “Ruby is one of my best friends and we have a great bond.”

The Mustangs’ other four tandems each won in straight sets — Allyn Hilt and Lily Sprague at No. 2; Lily Vandeweghe and Lucy Matuszak at No. 3; Sofia Sala and Samantha Nammack at No. 4 and Lily Enfield and Lerin Rosenthal at the No. 5 spot.

Mira Costa (24-1) is 75-3 in four seasons of CIF Southern Section competition, including 67-0 against every team other than Redondo Union, against which it holds an 8-3 advantage. The Mustangs improved to 5-0 against the Lions (17-3), who upset Redondo Union in the semifinals.

The Mustangs have won 14 of 15 sets in their three Division 1 finals victories.

DIVISION 2

Bishop Montgomery, making its first finals appearance, prevailed 3-2 over Edison thanks to the heroics of sophomore twins Hailey and Alyssa Waters, who clinched the championship with a 13-21, 21-17, 15-12 victory over the Chargers’ tandem of Sydney Kershaw and Emery Oakes.

“Being twins causes fighting but we’ve always played together and our connection makes us stronger,” Alyssa said.

“Before that last set we took a minute to talk to each other,” Hailey added. “We knew what we were doing.”

The Knights’ No. 1 duo of sisters Stacy and Stephanie Balestrieri and the No. 4 duo of Kendall McKechnie and Carli Duda both won in straight sets.

DIVISION 3

Freshmen Hannah Martin and Lucy Morris earned the decisive point with a 21-16, 22-20 win on Court 5 in Long Beach Millikan’s 4-1 triumph over Windward.

“We didn’t know the score or what was going on in the other matches,” Martin said. “:Lucy and I were just focusing on ours. We’re really close friends but this is our first time playing together in CIF. We both play indoor too but in beach you have to have more trust because it’s only two of you.”

Madison Jones and Johanna Swerdloff won 21-17, 16-21, 15-8 at No. 2, Bella Bonales and Estale Lopez won 21-15, 21-18 at No. 3 and Olivia Vits and Samantha Guman won 21-12, 21-15 at No. 4 for the Rams (14-7), who lost to Long Beach Wilson in the Division 2 final last year.

Millikan is the third Moore League school to win a Southern Section title in the brief history of the sport, joining Wilson and Long Beach Poly, who won Divisions 2 and 3 last year. The Bay League is only other with multiple champions (Mira Costa and Redondo Union).

DiVISION 4

In the first finals appearance for both programs, Oak Park swept the last four courts to claim the inaugural Division 4 crown against Campbell Hall, a Division 3 semifinalist last season. Seniors Athena Trewyn and Kaela Raquel won 19-21, 21-19, 15-12 on Court 3 to notch the clinching point for the Eagles (11-5).

“We’ve never made it past the quarterfinals and we didn’t even make the playoffs last year,” said second-year coach Josh Giron, whose team practices at North Ranch Playfield in Thousand Oaks, a 30-minute drive from campus. “We have one court for 20 girls and sometimes we have to cancel practice because another team’s using it.”

Wrexham’s dream of reaching the Premier League is over, for this season anyway.

And for Ryan Reynolds, it was tough to stomach.

“I am completely gutted by today’s result but incredibly proud of our season,” the actor wrote on X after the Welsh club he co-owns missed out on a place in the playoffs in the second-tier Championship by drawing 2-2 with Middlesbrough in a dramatic final round of the regular season on Saturday.

That allowed Hull to jump ahead of Wrexham and into sixth place — the fourth and final spot in the playoffs — courtesy of a 2-1 win over Norwich in a match played at the same time.

The winning goal for Hull, by Oli McBurnie in the 67th, appeared to be scored from an offside position but there are no video reviews in the English Football League.

It ended Wrexham’s unprecedented run of three straight promotions under its famous owners — a streak that began by getting out of the fifth tier in the 2022-23 season and has been documented in the globally popular, Emmy Award-winning “Welcome to Wrexham” series.

Still, seventh place marked the Wrexham’s highest finish in its history, bettering the 15th position it achieved in the second tier in the 1978–79 season.

“We’ve come a long way in five years and this was the best result in our 150+ year history,” Reynolds wrote alongside a graphic that showed how Wrexham has risen from the National League. “More to do. But for now, we have so much to be proud of, Reds.”

Elsewhere, Ipswich secured the second automatic promotion spot behind champion Coventry — and an immediate return to the Premier League — by beating Queens Park Rangers 3-0.

Ipswich is owned by U.S. investment group Gamechanger 20 Limited and counts pop star Ed Sheeran as a minority shareholder.

Joining Hull in the playoffs, which begin next week and are over two legs, are Millwall, Southampton and Middlesbrough.

Millwall will face Hull, and Southampton will meet Middlesbrough.

Best-ever finish by Wrexham

It was a memorable campaign by Wrexham in its first season in the second tier since the 1980s.

However, the short-term pain was acute, and Wrexham’s players sat on the ground and looked disconsolate after the final whistle — even though the Hull-Norwich match hadn’t finished.

Wrexham started the day in sixth place, ahead of Hull on goal difference, and conceded in the fourth minute to Middlesbrough, only to score through Josh Windass and Sam Smith for a 2-1 lead by the 41st.

Middlesbrough hit back immediately with a 43rd-minute equalizer but Wrexham finished the stronger, squandering a string of great late chances for a winner that would have secured a playoff place on goal difference.

Wrexham’s Josh Windass squats on the field and looks dejected following a draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday.

(Michael Steele / Getty Images)

In the end, Wrexham finished two points behind Hull.

“This squad as it stands, with a preseason together, will be even stronger next year,” said Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson, who oversaw a summer spend of around $40 million last year.

“Of course we’ll always look to add to that to try and give ourselves an even better chance … we know where we’d like to strengthen and what we need to improve on. We’ll do that and we’ll make this squad as strong as we possibly can to mount a challenge next year.”

Douglas writes for the Associated Press.

Interim head coach D.J. Smith will be among the candidates for the Kings’ full-time job when general manager Ken Holland conducts his coaching search this month.

Smith took over March 1 when Holland fired Jim Hiller with the Kings at 24-21-14 and out of the playoff picture. The former Ottawa head coach rallied the Kings to an 11-6-6 finish to claim the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference, but the Kings were swept by the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche in their fifth consecutive first-round postseason exit.

“D.J. did a great job,” Holland said Friday. “The team responded to him, so he’s a candidate. … I don’t want to talk to 20 people. I’d like to talk to probably five to eight people, and then make a decision. Some with experience, some maybe assistants, and some who haven’t been a head coach.”

Holland will begin his coaching search next week, looking for a candidate who can get this team out of its first-round playoff exit rut. He reiterated his disinterest in a full-scale rebuild, but also hinted that the Kings might want to make adjustments to their longstanding defense-first philosophy.

The Kings have failed to advance beyond the first round in seven consecutive postseasons since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014, including six first-round exits since team president Luc Robitaille took ultimate charge of hockey operations in 2017. The current Kings had 15 fewer points than last season’s team.

“As I sit here today, I’m not happy,” Holland said. “Luc Robitaille isn’t happy. Our players aren’t happy. It was a disappointing season. Under .500 at home, 29th in the league in goals scored, squeaked into the playoffs, got swept up by a Presidents’ Trophy-winning team. So I’m not happy. We’ve got to make the team better.”

Holland, who replaced Rob Blake a year ago, identified the obvious reason the Kings weren’t a real Stanley Cup contender this season: Their long-standing offensive struggles. The Kings scored only 225 goals, fourth-worst in the NHL and 25 fewer than last season.

Holland attempted to address the problem by trading for Artemi Panarin before the Olympic break, but the high-scoring forward couldn’t make up for the Olympic injury loss of fellow high scorer Kevin Fiala. Holland revealed Fiala might have been ready to return from his broken leg if the Kings had advanced to the second round.

The Kings have prioritized defense for most of the past two decades, often playing a sticky, trapping style that doesn’t promote offensive creativity or attack. That’s tough to overcome against opponents that are more talented while equally committed to defense — such as the Avalanche, who allowed only five goals in their four-game sweep.

Defense won two Stanley Cups for the Kings, but Holland openly wondered whether the Kings need to think bigger.

“Are we too defensive-minded? I’ve got to sort that out,” Holland said. “You’ve got to be good defensively. … You can’t win four games 6-5 in the playoffs. But we’re 29th in the league in goals scored. We’ve got to find ways. Power play has got to be better. We’ve got to generate a little more attack from the back end.”

The Kings also had inept special teams, ranking 28th in the NHL on the power play and 30th in penalty-killing. The Kings were the league’s third-best team at five-on-five defense, but only seventh in total goals allowed thanks to its feckless special teams.

Holland’s coaching hire will have to fix those units without the help of two-time Selke Trophy-winning forward Anze Kopitar, who retired after a 20-year career with Los Angeles. The Kings will need a new captain to replace Kopitar in the dressing room and a high-usage center to take Kopitar’s minutes.

The Kings will be relying even more heavily on Quinton Byfield, the former No. 2 overall draft pick who has grown into a dependable two-way player with the potential to improve in a more open system.

“Obviously it’s going to be QB’s team up front,” Holland said. “Kopi [leaves] a massive hole. He’s the highest-scoring forward in the history of the franchise. He plays 200 feet. He’s big and he’s strong. He wins draws. In my opinion, he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I don’t think we’re just going to be able to go out and find a way to replace him with one person, and I don’t expect it.”

The Kings still have ample veteran talent next to Byfield, Fiala and Panarin, including top scorer Adrian Kempe, emerging forward Alex Laferriere and promising defenseman Brandt Clarke. Holland claims he is eager to add talent across the lineup after he settles on a coach.

“We have lots of good players,” Holland said. “I’ve got to build a better team.”

Beacham writes for the Associated Press.

EDMONTON, Canada — Leon Draisaitl scored a pair of goals and Evan Bouchard chipped in with three assists as the Edmonton Oilers staved off elimination by beating the Ducks 4-1 on Tuesday night.

The Oilers now trail the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series 3-2 with Game 6 on Thursday night at Honda Center.

Vasily Podkolzin and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers who had previously yielded six separate leads to slip away in the first four games of the series.

Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a pair of assists. Edmonton is now 18-3 when scoring first in a game when facing elimination.

Alex Killorn scored for the Ducks.

Connor Ingram made 29 stops for Edmonton, while Ville Husso recorded 10 saves for the Ducks after coming in to relieve Lukas Dostal, who gave up three goals on nine shots.

For the fifth straight game the Oilers struck first, scoring on the game’s first shot just 2:22 into the contest as Podkolzin beat Dostal high for his second of the postseason.

Edmonton took a 2-0 lead 8:33 into the opening period as a point shot was deflected twice, the second time through Dostal’s legs by Hyman.

The Oilers took a 3-0 lead just 1:14 later as Draisaitl tipped Bouchard’s point shot in for his second of the playoffs. That spelled an early end of the night for Dostal.

The Ducks got on the board on the power play 8:26 into the second period as Mason McTavish dropped it back to Killorn, who extended his points streak to four games with his third goal of the playoffs.

Edmonton responded with a power-play goal a couple of minutes later on a one-timer by Draisaitl, who tied Wayne Gretzky for the most postseason power-play goals in franchise history at 23.

Edmonton has played the most playoff games of any NHL team since 2022 with 80, two more than the Florida Panthers, who beat the Oilers in the last two Stanley Cup Finals before failing to qualify this season.

Playing in his 80th playoff game, Bouchard collected his 88th point, moving into a tie for third place for players through 80 games with Brian Leetch, behind only Bobby Orr (92) and Paul Coffey (92).

McDavid (63 points) passed Adam Oates for the second-most points in NHL history when trailing in a playoff series. Only Gretzky (80) has more.

Marco Reus scored two goals, the second one on a penalty kick in the 85th minute, to rally the Galaxy to a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Sunday.

Reus scored from 21 yards out off a free kick to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute. The kick was awarded after Gabriel Pec was fouled by Real Salt Lake midfielder Stijn Spierings.

Galaxy goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski was charged with an own goal in the final minute of stoppage time, tying it 1-1 at halftime. The ball deflected off the post and into the net when he dove to make a save on Zavier Gozo’s shot.

Reus scored the winner on a PK after a foul on Sam Junqua for shoving Elijah Wynder in the back on a corner kick. It was the fourth goal this season for Reus and his 10th in 37 career appearances.

Marcinkowski saved nine shots for the Galaxy (3-4-3).

Rafael Cabral totaled four saves for Real Salt Lake (5-3-1).

Real Salt Lake went 5-0-1 in a six-match stretch before losing 2-0 to visiting Inter Miami on Wednesday. The club falls to 1-2-1 on the road.

The Galaxy were coming off a 1-1-1 road trip and improve to 2-2-1 at home.

Ryan Poehling scored 2:29 into overtime, and the Ducks pushed Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers to the brink of first-round elimination with a 4-3 victory in Game 4 on Sunday night.

Jeffrey Viel tied it with 6:29 left in regulation for the Ducks, who rallied from an early two-goal deficit and another third-period hole before taking a 3-1 series lead with their third consecutive victory over the back-to-back Western Conference champion Oilers.

The Ducks won when Poehling’s sharp-angled shot trickled under Edmonton goalie Tristan Jarry, who had played well in his first playoff start for his new team. An extensive video review revealed no reason to overturn the judgment on the ice that the puck had barely crossed the goal line underneath Jarry’s skate.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Edmonton.

The Ducks celebrate their Game 4 victory.

(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

Cutter Gauthier and Mikael Granlund scored power-play goals in the second period for the Ducks, whose first playoff series in eight years has been an exciting demonstration of their revamped roster’s skill. Lukas Dostal stopped 24 shots for the Ducks, which have scored 20 goals in four games against the Oilers.

Evan Bouchard scored a tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Jarry made 34 saves for the Oilers. Kasperi Kapanen and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored first-period goals.

Edmonton nearly won it late in regulation, but Dostal made a spectacular, sprawling pad save to deny McDavid on a late breakaway. The Oilers’ superstar center has a goal and two assists in the series.

LA JOLLA — Sinia Plotz scored to begin each half and Anna Reed finished with 10 saves to lead USC to a 10-9 victory over California on Sunday night at the Canyonview Aquatic Center, earning the Trojans a seventh national championship in women’s water polo.

It’s the first championship for Casey Moon in his second season as the Trojans’ head coach. USC last claimed the title in 2021.

Holly Dunn scored on a power play with 23 seconds left in the first quarter to pull Cal even, but Ava Stryker answered with seven seconds remaining and USC took a 3-2 lead.

Emily Ausmus scored for a two-goal lead and Stryker added her second goal to give the Trojans a 6-3 advantage with 3:15 left before halftime. Eszter Varro answered with a goal eight seconds later for the Golden Bears and another one with 2:07 left to cut it to 6-5.

Ausmus found the net with eight seconds left, but Dunn scored on a shot just before the buzzer to get Cal within 7-6 at the break.

Plotz scored to begin the second half and give USC a two-goal lead, but Varro scored for the third time and Cal trailed 8-7.

Meghan McAninch scored on a power play midway through the quarter for a 9-7 lead. Julianne Snyder cut into the deficit with 48.7 seconds left and the Golden Bears had a tying shot by Dunn hit the crossbar. Talia Fonseca had one of her 11 saves on a shot by USC’s Alma Yaacobi at the buzzer and Cal trailed 9-8 heading to the final quarter.

Rachel Gazzaniga scored two minutes in to again give USC a two-goal lead. Despoina Drakotou scored the final goal of the match on a five-meter penalty shot after an exclusion on Reed with 5:23 remaining. Reed had a save on an earlier penalty shot.

The fourth-seeded Golden Bears (16-8), looking for their first championship, knocked out defending champion and top-ranked Stanford 13-11 in the semifinals to advance to their second final in three seasons under coach Coralie Simmons — in her 10th season. UCLA beat Cal 7-4 in the 2024 final and Stanford topped Cal 9-5 for the 2011 championship.

No. 3-seed USC advanced with an 11-10 victory over second-seeded UCLA in the other semifinal.

The event was hosted by UC San Diego.

Seeing Tripp King flick a rubber ball toward the net with his stick is like spotting an unidentified flying object and wondering if you missed it because the shot happens faster than the blink of an eye.

His lacrosse coach at Loyola High, Jimmy Borell, brings out one of those baseball radar guns twice a year to clock how fast his players can send that ball through a net.

King’s right hand delivers the ball at 100 mph and his left hand at 90 mph.

“I pray he doesn’t cut the net,” Borell said.

In a sport that’s beloved on the East Coast, King is helping bring respect to lacrosse players learning the game on the West Coast.

He started lacrosse in kindergarten, showing up to participate in South Bay Lacrosse Club. By first grade, he was wearing lacrosse pads. He also played football and basketball. When he reached Loyola as a freshman, he was still a three-sport athlete, but he had become so talented in lacrosse that it became his focus.

“I always loved the speed of lacrosse,” said the junior. “I see that similarity in basketball. It’s always pulled me knowing you have to be good at everything instead of one particular skill.”

At 6 feet 1 and 200 pounds with the thick calves of a football player, he’s an attacker that every opponent must track. He’ll stand behind the net ready to receive the ball and make a pass to teammates who will quickly get the ball back to him for a goal with one flick of his wrist.

He had 102 points during the regular season (65 goals, 37 assists) for a Loyola team seeded No. 1 for the seven-team Southern Section Division 1 playoffs that begin this week. Loyola has a bye in the opening round and won’t play until May 9.

“He’s pretty special,” Borell said. “He’s got the tangibles, very skilled, can use both of his hands and has a very quick step.”

He’s committed to North Carolina, which is a dream come true since he was born to be a Tar Heel. Both of his parents went to North Carolina.

Tripp King, wearing No. 11, is an attacker for Loyola’s No. 1-ranked lacrosse team.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

“I’ve grown up a Tar Heel,” he said.

He’s also a kind, friendly future Tar Heel, something you can’t always say about lacrosse players who often feel they are either entitled or frustrated when people don’t pay enough attention to them.

Classmates swear by King.

“Nice,” is what several told me.

He returns to the South Bay Lacrosse Club to give back, working with young players just like when somebody helped him as a 5-year-old.

He’s someone ready to head to the East Coast determined to be proof of how determined West Coast players have become.

“A lot of the stereotypes of the West Coast are surfer boy or doesn’t take it seriously,” he said. “We’ve made it an atmosphere at Loyola where every day we’re waking up at 5 o’clock for 6 a.m. practices. We’re getting in extra work before and after practice. I think that lazier, not tough stereotype isn’t true. The West Coast is growing.”

King lives in Manhattan Beach, where celebrities and pro athletes can be seen walking or riding bikes on any given day.

King is only 17, but if he’s taking a walk or riding a bike, pay attention, because one day, he’s going to be recognized as lacrosse trendsetter from the West Coast.

Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson scored 42 seconds apart in the third period, Mikael Granlund had a goal and two assists, and the Ducks celebrated their first home playoff game in eight years with a 7-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers and a 2-1 series lead on Friday night.

Jeffrey Viel and Jackson LaCombe also scored in the third and Lukas Dostal made 20 saves for the upstart Ducks, who have poured in 16 goals in three games to take an early lead in this first-round series against the two-time Western Conference champion Oilers. Mason McTavish and Alex Killorn scored early goals.

Backed by a raucous sellout crowd hungry for Orange County’s first playoff hockey since 2018, the Ducks overcame their season-long defensive shortcomings by outscoring the powerhouse Oilers even after Connor McDavid recorded his first points of the series.

Game 4 is Sunday night in Anaheim.

McDavid had a power-play goal in the third period and an assist for Edmonton. Vasily Podkolzin, Kasperi Kapanen and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored, and Connor Ingram stopped 32 shots.

Appropriately for a defense-deficient series, the Ducks capitalized on two transition sequences early in the third to take control.

Moments after Sennecke ripped a wrist shot for the tiebreaking goal and the precocious rookie’s first playoff point, Carlsson clinically finished a textbook 2-on-1 rush with Troy Terry.

McDavid trimmed the Oilers’ deficit with a fortunate deflection off Pavel Mintyukov’s stick, but the Oilers superstar short-circuited another power play later in the third by cross-checking Tyson Hinds.

Viel then flipped home a backhand with 3:03 left to cap a strong game by the Ducks’ fourth line, and LaCombe lofted home an empty-net goal all the way from the Ducks’ goal line to seal Anaheim’s first home playoff victory since May 14, 2017, in the conference finals against Nashville.

The clubs split the series’ first two games in Edmonton, but the Ducks demonstrated they could stay with the playoff-tested Oilers despite the obvious deficiencies of an inexperienced group that allowed more goals this season than any other playoff team.

Anaheim rode the wave of crowd energy and dominated play early in Game 3, putting 20 shots on Ingram in the first period. Killorn tied it for Anaheim in the second with his 39th career playoff goal.

Oilers forwards Adam Henrique and Jason Dickinson missed Game 3 with injuries.

The Colorado Avalanche rode swagger, poise and the league’s stingiest goaltender to the best record in the NHL this season. And nothing about that formula has changed in the postseason, with goals from Gabriel Landeskog, Cale Makar, Artturi Lehkonen and Brock Nelson giving Colorado a 4-2 win Thursday over the Kings and a commanding 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

The Kings, who have lost their last six first-round playoff series, need a victory at home Sunday to extend their season. Their goals in Game 3 came from Trevor Moore in the second period and Adrian Kempe on a third-period power play.

“They’re best team in the league for a reason. But we’re right there,” forward Quinton Byfield said. “We’re a confident group.”

“One game at home. Must-win game,” defenseman Drew Doughty added. “Everyone’s going to give everything they’ve got. We’ve got to win that one, and then hopefully get to go back to Denver.”

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews celebrates a goal by defenseman Cale Makar on Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg during the second period of Game 3 Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The difference in the series has been Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood, who was nearly perfect again, making 24 saves to place the Kings 60 minutes away from the offseason.

Anton Forsberg, playing in the postseason for the first time, has been almost as good in goal for the Kings, though he was victimized by two fluke goals and an empty-netter.

“Both goalies in the series have been unbelievable,” Kings coach D.J. Smith said. “Give Wedgewood credit. This guy looks like he’s putting his name on the circuit as a big-time goalie.”

The Avalanche, who certainly haven’t needed many lucky breaks in this series, got one early in the first period when Landeskog spun and launched a wild wrister from the blue line that went well wide of the net, only to have the puck carom off the end boards and into the net off Forsberg’s right skate blade.

The goal was the second in as many games for the Colorado captain.

The Kings then got their own break six minutes into the second period when Alex Laferriere jumped Brett Kulak’s clearing pass in the neutral jump and fed Byfield, whose pass into the crease struck Moore’s leg and ricocheted past Wedgewood to tie the score.

Colorado defenseman Devon Toews reaches for the puck against Kings right wing Quinton Byfield in the first period.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Colorado needed less than seven minutes to get the lead back, with Makar getting the puck along the boards on the left wing, skating into space at the point, then zipping a wrist shot through heavy traffic and just under the crossbar.

The Avalanche then increased the advantage 7:39 in the final period after Kempe fanned a shot from the point. Lehkonen collected the loose puck and took it the length of the ice before deflecting a centering pass off Kempe’s skate and by Forsberg for a short-handed goal, his second score of the series.

That appeared to put the game away, but after the Kings pulled Forsberg for an extra attacker, Kempe halved the deficit on a tip-in with 4:02 to play. But then Nelson forced a turnover and scored into the empty net with 2:18 left.

The six goals combined matched the total number from the first two games in Colorado.

“We’ve got to keep doing a lot of the things that we are doing,” Doughty said. “Obviously, we got to clean up giving up some of these chances that we’re giving up.”

Kings goalie Anton Forsberg covers the puck as Colorado left wing Gabriel Landeskog battles for it in the second period.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The Kings’ penalty kill, which ranked 30th in the 32-team league during the regular season, has been brilliant against the Avalanche, turning back all nine Colorado power plays. That, plus stellar play for Forsberg in goal, has frustrated the NHL’s top-scoring team.

But against Wedgewood, the Kings have mustered little offense, scoring just four goals in the series — three times on the power play and once off Moore’s leg.

“We’d like to get more than two goals. Against this team, I don’t think it’s enough,” Doughty said. “I don’t think we’re creating enough grade-A chances on Wedgewood. He has played well, so for us to beat them, we’ve got to wear them down in the D-zone, make them tired and score goals that way. And we haven’t done that enough.”

They’re guaranteed just one more chance to turn that around.

“There’s no quit in there,” Smith said of the Kings’ locker room. “And I think you’ll see our best game. To a man, we want to give them a real good outing and push this series back to Colorado.”

EDMONTON, Canada — Cutter Gauthier broke a tie off a rebound with 4:52 left and the Ducks beat Edmonton 6-4 on Wednesday night in Game 2 to even the first-round series, with Oilers star Connor McDavid slowed by an apparent leg injury.

McDavid appeared to catch an edge early in the second period after getting tangled up with teammate Mattias Ekholm and the Ducks’ Ian Moore. McDavid briefly left the game before returning, playing just over 24 minutes.

Game 3 is Friday night at Honda Center. Edmonton opened the series Monday night with a 4-3 victory.

Gauthier put the Ducks back in front after Josh Samanski — making his playoff debut — tied it at 4 with 6:09 to go. Ryan Poehling put it away with an empty-netter with 1:10 left, his second goal of the game. He scored shorthanded in the second.

Pavel Mintyukov, right, of the Ducks battles against Kasperi Kapanen of the Oilers in the second period.

(Codie McLachlan / Associated Press)

Gauthier also scored on a first-period power play and set up Alex Killorn’s second-period goal on a man advantage. Killorn added two assists.

Jacob Trouba added a goal, fellow defenseman Jackson LaCombe had three assists and Lukas Dostal stopped 33 shots.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist for Edmonton. He returned for Game 1 from a lower-body injury against Nashville on March 15.

Connor Murphy and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers, and Connor Ingram made 22 saves.

DENVER — The Kings haven’t won an NHL playoff series since the last time they won the Stanley Cup, which is to say it’s been a while.

They’re halfway to another early exit after a 2-1 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, a result that gave the Avalanche a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The winning goal came from Nicolas Roy 7:44 in the extra period.

The Kings’ lone goal came from Artemi Panarin while captain Gabriel Landeskog had the other Colorado goal.

“We did play really well,” interim coach D.J. Smith said. “We’ve got to find a way to win a game. Clearly, good isn’t enough. We’ve got to win a game and keep taking a piece of them and keep playing physical and give ourselves a chance to keep lengthening the series.”

Panarin gave the Kings a 1-0 lead on a wrister from the inside edge of the right circle with less than seven minutes left in regulation. It was his second power-play goal of the series and it came on the Kings’ fifth power play of the night.

It also came after the Kings got a fortunate break, with a Colorado clearing pass striking a linesman, leading to a faceoff in the Kings’ offensive end.

Landeskog evened things for Colorado 3 1/2 minutes later, escaping Kings forward Scott Laughton to skate to a Martin Necas pass through the crease before pushing the puck inside the left post to send the game to overtime.

For the Kings, it marked their 34^th overtime in 84 games this season, an NHL record. They lost 21 of them but Tuesday’s was the most painful, with Roy scoring on a deflection in the crease.

“We had every opportunity,” Smith said. “You’ve got to be able to close it out.”

The teams now head to Crypto.com Arena for games Thursday and Sunday with the Kings needing at least one win to extend their season.

“I expect that we’ll be better at home,” Smith said.

To do that, the Kings are going to have to stop wasting the kind of opportunities they had in Denver, where they converted just two of nine power-play chances and failed to score on a penalty shot in the first two games.

The physical series turned chippy in late in Game 1 and that carried over to the start of Game 2 with a pair of scuffles, each involving more than a half-dozen players, breaking out 12 seconds apart midway through the first period. The teams combined for seven penalties in a fast-paced opening 20 minutes played with a lot of open ice.

Quinton Byfield had two chances to put the Kings on the board just more than three minutes into the second period but Colorado goalie Scott Wedgewood came up big both times.

Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg makes a save during overtime of Game 2.

(Jack Dempsey / Associated Press)

The first came when Byfield charged Wedgewood on a breakaway, only to have the goalie stop his wrister from in close. But Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar was called for hooking Byfield from behind on the play, setting up a penalty shot. Wedgewood stopped that too.

An over-excited group of fans celebrated the two saves by breaking a pane of glass behind the Kings bench, sending the coaches scurrying and pausing the game for several minutes as workmen repaired the damage. But 16 seconds after play resumed, the Avalanche took another penalty, their sixth of seven on the night.

The Colorado penalties left the Kings with a man advantage for nearly a quarter of the game’s first 25 minutes, but their power play couldn’t take advantage against a Colorado penalty kill that ranked No. 1 in the NHL during the regular season.

“Obviously, you just want the opportunities,” forward Trevor Moore said. “Now we’ve just got to make the most of them.”

Colorado’s best scoring chance in the first two periods came on a three-on-one rush less than five minutes before the second intermission, but Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson reached in to break up the play and keep the game scoreless.

Colorado celebrates its Game 2 victory over the Kings.

(Jack Dempsey / Associated Press)

Sam Malinski appeared to give the Avalanche the lead on a slap shot from above the left circle 10 seconds into the final period, but after the horn sounded and the goal was put in the scoreboard, the officials correctly ruled the puck had struck the outside of the net.

Five minutes later Byfield fanned on a loose puck in the crease, allowing Wedgewood to roll over and clear it from in front of the open net.

Now the Kings come home, where they won six of their final seven regular-season games, the only loss coming in a shootout. But they haven’t beaten the Avalanche anywhere this season and if they have to at least once in the next two games to avoid their seventh straight first-round playoff exit.

“Thought we played better tonight,” Moore said. “So we’ve to to try to just take the positives and get to L.A. and play a good game.”

DENVER — Different opponent. Same result.

In each of the last four seasons, the Kings have opened the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers. They lost each time.

So on Sunday the Kings tried a different route, opening against the Colorado Avalanche.

They lost, 2-1.

The goals came from Artturi Lehkonen late in the second period and Logan O’Connor early in the third. The Kings made a game of it late, pulling goaltender Anton Fosberg with 2:57 to play and getting a power-play goal from Artemi Panarin 35 seconds later. But that was as close as they would get.

Maybe the Kings should have been careful what they wished for. Because while the Avalanche aren’t the Oilers, they’re better — much better — than any of the recent Edmonton teams.

This season they won the Presidents’ Trophy, the prize that goes to the team with the best regular-season record in the league, and they earned it by scoring the most goals and giving up the fewest in the NHL. They also had the best home record in the Western Conference and the best road record in the league.

And they started quickly Sunday, putting four shots on goal in the first four minutes. But Forsberg was spectacular, making 28 saves to keep the Kings in the game.

Colorado thought it had beaten him less than seven minutes into the second period when O’Connor found the back of the net from the right circle but the goal was waved off by a goalie interference call on Jack Drury, who tumbled into the crease as O’Connor was releasing his shot. The Avalanche questioned the call, claiming Kings defender Drew Doughty had pushed Drury from behind, but they lost the challenge.

There was no doubt about Colorado’s next goal, which came 4:31 before the second intermission when Lehkonen, defended tightly by Doughty, was able to reach out his stick and sweep in the rebound of Nathan MacKinnon‘s shot from the right boards.

The Avalanche doubled their advantage 5:50 into the third period when Joel Edmundson lost the puck in the Kings’ zone, allowing O’Connor to collect it and race defenseman Cody Ceci to the front of the net before beating Forsberg cleanly. Drury got an assist on the play.

The game, which had been physical all afternoon, turned chippy after that, giving the Kings a power play they took advantage to halve Colorado’s lead. But the Avalanche then closed out the game to a 1-0 lead in the series.

The best-of-seven playoff resumes Tuesday night in Denver before moving to the Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.

The first goal allowed under the experimental “daylight” ​offside rule was scored in Canada on Saturday, with Pacific FC forward Alejandro Diaz on ⁠target in a 2-2 draw with Halifax Wanderers., external

The strike would have been ruled out elsewhere under the standard International Football Association ⁠Board (Ifab) Laws of the ​Game, but ⁠stood under the Canadian Premier League’s ongoing trial conducted in cooperation with Fifa.

The daylight interpretation of offside means there should be a complete gap between the attacker and the second-to-last opposition player – effectively the last defender, given the goalkeeper’s usual positioning.

The CPL ⁠is testing the rule this season as part ​of ⁠efforts to reduce ‌marginal offside decisions and encourage attacking play.

The concept, long advocated by former Arsenal manager ⁠Arsene Wenger in his role as Fifa’s head of global football development, is being assessed in Canada as a potential change to the offside law.

But critics have suggested that daylight offside will give too much advantage to the attacking team.

The CPL – which does not have video assistant referees (VAR) – is the first top-flight league to try out this new offside rule, with low-level trials held in Italy’s Under-18 Championship in 2023 and in youth competitions in the Netherlands.

Results of the trials will be presented to Ifab at the end of year. If successful, there is the potential for the law to change across the world for the 2027-28 European season.

The Kings looked nothing like a playoff team heading into the NHL’s trade deadline. They had lost six of their last eight games, had just fired their coach and had saw their second-leading scorer go down with a broken leg in the Olympic tournament.

They were backing away from the playoffs, not heading toward them. So general manager Ken Holland did the prudent thing and largely stood pat, trading a couple of veterans for draft picks and making only a pair of minor acquisitions.

Turns out he wasn’t waving a white flag but rather a green one because the Kings hit the gas after that, gathering points in 16 of their final 20 games, finishing the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. That earned them a fifth straight trip to the playoffs and a first-round meeting with the Colorado Avalanche, the league’s winningest team, beginning Sunday in Denver.

The Ducks, meanwhile, advanced to the postseason for the first time since 2018 but they stumbled in, losing eight of their last 10 and blowing a five-point lead in the Pacific Division and the home-ice advantage that went with it over the final three weeks. The Ducks, the third-place team in the Pacific Division, will start on the road in Edmonton on Monday.

Kings interim coach D.J. Smith during a game in March in Boston.

(Charles Krupa / Associated Press)

“It’s been a climb. Probably didn’t look very good a while ago,” said Kings interim coach D.J. Smith, who could lose the interim part of that title after going 11-6-6 after replacing Jim Hiller behind the bench with 23 games to play. “It’s a credit to the guys, the leadership. They played playoff hockey for a while now. And it’s allowed us this opportunity.”

Actually, crediting the Kings with playing playoff hockey isn’t necessarily a compliment since the team hasn’t won a postseason series since hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2014. But it’s been more than a decade since the Kings have entered the playoffs carrying this kind of momentum and they have a few people to thank for that.

Anton Forsberg has been key for the Kings down the stretch.

(Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

Journeyman goaltender Anton Forsberg, who spent most of his first season in Los Angeles backing up Darcy Kuemper, won five straight starts in April to key the Kings’ fast finish. Russian winger Artemi Panarin, acquired from the New York Rangers just before the Olympic break and a month before the trade deadline, contributed nine goals and 18 assists in 26 games, helping make up for the loss of forwards Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko to injuries. And Quinton Byfield scored 10 times in his final 13 games to set a career high with 24 goals.

“Since the break I feel like we’ve really come together as a group,” Byfield said.

The team displayed uncommon grit as well, going to overtime an NHL-record 33 times. (They lost 20 of those games; if they have gotten the second point in just a third of those, they would have won the division.)

And finally, the Kings were also fueled by a desire to give captain Anze Kopitar one more chance at a title. Kopitar, who announced in September that this season would be his last, gave an emotional good-bye speech to the fans after the final regular-season home game. His teammates were determined to give him an encore in the playoffs.

“That had a lot to do with it,” Smith said. “Guys were playing for him. He gets one more chance to play at home.

“We found a way.”

Kopitar, however, credited his coach for the team’s fast finish.

“Once Smithy came in, he just changed the energy a little bit and we’re trying to be a little more aggressive versus sitting back,” said Kopitar, the Kings’ all-time leader in games, points and assists.

Cutter Gauthier is the first Duck to score 40 goals in a season since Corey Perry in 2013-14.

(Melissa Majchrzak / Associated Press)

For the Ducks, they’re not only returning to the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons — only the Detroit Red Wings have a longer active postseason drought — but they also posted a winning record for the first time since 2018.

Troy Terry, who played two games as a rookie that season, is the only Duck remaining from that team.

“This year has just felt different from the start,” he said. “It was less question marks about the potential of the team. We knew what we could be.”

Which isn’t to say it’s been easy. The team had two seven-game winning streaks but also weathered losing streaks of nine and six games.

“We had a couple of roller coasters there, starting and then slowing down and getting back on it,” said coach Joel Quenneville, who has taken five teams to the NHL playoffs, winning three Stanley Cups in Chicago.

The Ducks’ 273 goals this season are the most in franchise history but the 288 they allowed is third-worst all time, leaving the team with the second-highest goal differential of any playoff team. (Only the Kings are worse at -22.)

Speaking of history, winger Cutter Gauthier, with 18 goals in the final 23 games, is the first Duck to score 40 goals in a season since Corey Perry in 2013-14. At 22, he’s also the second-youngest to get there, trailing only Paul Kariya.