from the Russia-based K

ANAHEIM Mikael Granlund Jersey , Calif. (AP) — Although Los Angeles is below the 14th-place Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference standings, the last-place Kings have emerged on top of their closest rivals in both of their head-to-head matchups so far this season.The Freeway Faceoff is about all that’s left to motivate these teams while Southern California’s hockey renaissance ends with a thud.Carl Grundstrom scored his second NHL goal in his second career game and the Kings won for just the second time in 15 games, beating the Ducks 3-2 Sunday night in a meeting of once-powerful rivals going through nightmare seasons.Dustin Brown and Kyle Clifford also scored first-period goals, and Jonathan Quick made 18 saves in the Kings’ second win over Anaheim this season. There are two more meetings in the Freeway Faceoff over the next four weeks, putting some excitement in the Southland before both of its hockey teams likely miss the playoffs in the same season for the first time since 2004.“We’re both not in playoff spots, but we’re still playing for pride,” Clifford said. “And they’re always a rival over there.”The stakes are usually higher for Los Angeles and Anaheim. These teams are coming off a brilliant seven-year stretch in which the Kings won two Stanley Cup championships and the Ducks won five consecutive Pacific Division titles while reaching two conference finals.The good times abruptly ended last spring when both teams were swept in the first round of the playoffs, and this year has been miserable since the Kings flopped in the opening weeks and the Ducks fell into a midseason tailspin.There’s always a spark when the rivals get together, but the Kings had enough resilience to beat the Ducks again despite going scoreless in the final 43 minutes.“You knew right off that it was a pretty competitive atmosphere within both teams,” said coach Willie Desjardins, whose first game behind the Kings’ bench was a 4-1 win over Anaheim on Nov. 6. “If you look at their history, both of these clubs have had really good teams for a number of years, so it’s not surprising that they’ve played in lots of big games. It’s always good when you get to be a part of a challenge like that.”Jakob Silfverberg and Daniel Sprong scored for the Ducks, who followed up an impressive performance against Montreal with a lifeless effort against their neighbors. Ryan Miller stopped 22 shots.“First half of the game, not even close to good enough Youth Mikko Koivu Jersey ,” Silfverberg said. “We’ve been playing pretty good, but that was a step way back. We got flat-footed against a team that wanted it more. We kind of turned it on in the third period, but it was too late.”Honda Center wasn’t completely full when the puck dropped on the clubs’ 139th regular-season meeting, but the sellout crowd eventually arrived while Brown and Sprong traded goals 65 seconds apart in the opening minutes. Clifford then put Los Angeles ahead with his career-best eighth goal midway through the first period.The Kings held Anaheim to two shots in the opening period and took a 3-1 lead when Grundstrom nimbly converted Adrian Kempe’s pass on a rush. Grundstrom, a 21-year-old Swede who came up from the AHL on Friday, joined Brian Boyle as the only rookies in Kings history to score a goal in each of their first two games.After a scoreless second period, Silfverberg emerged from behind Quick’s net and trimmed the Kings’ lead on an unassisted goal with 7:44 left.The Ducks couldn’t even it late, losing to the Kings for just the 10th time in their last 27 meetings.“In the last six or seven games, we’ve been the better team in the majority of those,” Ducks assistant coach Marty Wilford said. “Tonight was a slow start, and it’s tough to chase the game, as we’ve learned all year. It’s tough to catch up, especially against a team like LA. There really wasn’t much space. They checked very hard.”NOTES: Boyle scored in each of his first two games for Los Angeles in February 2008. … Silfverberg has points in a career-best five straight games. … Ducks C Ryan Kesler missed his second straight game with a hip injury. The 34-year-old veteran had major hip surgery before last season, and he has just eight points in 60 games this season. … Kings F Brendan Leipsic was scratched for the first time in 59 games. He hadn’t missed a game since Los Angeles claimed him off waivers from Vancouver on Dec. 3.UP NEXTKings: Host Predators on Thursday night.Ducks: Host Predators on Tuesday night. The hockey world championships have been overshadowed by the Olympic tournament since the 1998 Nagano Games, the first to feature NHL players.Not this year.The NHL’s decision to skip the Pyeongchang Olympics had an impact. Amid tepid interest in South Korea Ryan Suter Jersey , the games were often played in half-empty arenas. It will be a different story in Denmark.The organizers say ticket sales have reached their planned target of 300,000 even before the tournament opens in Copenhagen and Herning on Friday. And there’s no need to worry about a lack of stars. Although Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are busy with their bid for a Stanley Cup three-peat, some of the sport’s biggest names will be on the ice in Denmark.Canada will be led by NHL leading scorer Connor McDavid after his Edmonton Oilers didn’t make the playoffs, teammate Leon Draisaitl has joined Germany, and the United States will be captained by Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane.Here’s a look at the annual tournament that will be played in Denmark for the first time:—THE TOURNAMENTThe event has 16 nations playing in two groups of eight, with the top four in each group advancing to the playoffs.Olympic champion Russia, defending champion Sweden, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belarus, Slovakia, France and Austria are in Group A. Matches will be played at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen.Canada, Finland, the United States, Germany Evgeny Svechnikov Jersey Womens , Norway, Latvia, Denmark and South Korea are in Group B. They will play at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning.In Friday’s opening games, Canada will take on the United States while Russia faces France.The final is scheduled for May 20.—THE FAVORITESCaptained by McDavid, who just clinched his second consecutive Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer with 108 points, Canada is the team to beat at the worlds.McDavid and Wayne Gretzky are the only two players in NHL history to win the scoring race more than once at 22 years of age or younger.McDavid will be joined by veteran Buffalo forward Ryan O’Reilly. Both were on the team that won the world title in Russia two years ago.New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal, who is among the finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy for the NHL’s rookie of the year, was also named in the squad.”We have a mix of youth, experience and strong leadership qualities among these players as they have represented Canada on the international stage previously from the world juniors up to last year’s championship,” Canada co-general manager Sean Burke said. ”Their previous success and experience can only help us in our ultimate goal of bringing home a gold medal.”The Canadians, who will again be led by Carolina Hurricanes coach Bill Peters, won the title in 2015 and 2016 after finishing second last year.—RUSSIAN COACH SWAPIn a surprise move less than a month before the worlds, Oleg Znarok stepped down as coach of Russia’s hockey team after leading the country to the Olympic title – its first in 26 years.Playing as ”Olympic Athletes from Russia” because of the country’s punishment for doping, Znarok’s team beat Germany 4-3 in overtime in the final.Znarok became coach in March 2014, taking over a team that lost in the quarterfinals on home ice at the Sochi Olympics. The Russians went on to win the world championship gold that year.He was replaced by Ilya Vorobyov Womens Zach Parise Jersey , one of his assistant coaches, but will still work with the team as a consultant.Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin, who is in a tight Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, won’t be available. But Vorobyov can rely on a mixture of NHL-based players and the home talents from the Russia-based KHL, widely considered the strongest league outside the NHL.Florida Panthers right winger Evgenii Dadonov and SKA St. Petersburg veteran Pavel Datsyuk are among those to make sure Russia remains a contender for gold, even though a lack of the NHL-experienced defensemen and goaltenders could harm the team’s ambitions.—OTHERS TO WATCHThe United States hopes to improve on last year’s fifth-place finish and has a team strong enough to make it happen.Kane’s presence will no doubt improve the quality of play. He last played at the world championships in 2008, his first season in the NHL and the last time the Blackhawks missed the playoffs, and was in the U.S. team at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics.Buffalo Sabres rookie and world junior MVP Casey Mittelstadt was prevented from playing by a groin injury, but some others will be there, including a trio who claimed bronze at the 2015 worlds in the Czech Republic. They include Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin, New York Islanders forward Anders Lee and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy.