Sports
Analysis: As Kings shift focus to another challenging playoff series, Ducks search for answers
The Kings and Ducks headed in opposite directions when they skated off the ice Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
The Kings are going to the playoffs for a third consecutive season, the team’s longest run of postseason appearances in a decade. The Ducks, meanwhile, will be heading to the golf course again after Thursday’s regular-season finale, having missed the postseason for a sixth straight year, the longest drought in franchise history.
Saturday’s 3-1 win was the Kings’ fifth victory in six games. For the Ducks, it was their 50th loss of the season, a first in the 30-year history of the franchise.
But the gap between the two is narrower and more fickle than it might appear.
“It’s a hard game,” said Kings President Luc Robitaille. “You have to have a plan, you’ve got to stick to it, you’ve got to be a little bit lucky with injuries too.”
When that luck runs out, well, then you have the Ducks.
“You can look at any team that’s won, and they’ve had a little luck,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. “They’ve had a little, now they’re good. You can never take that away. But there’s always some sort of thing.”
Neither Robitaille nor Verbeek are crediting fortune alone for their teams’ successes and failures. But they’re not dismissing the impact either.
“If you’d say what are you lucky about, it’s more that [Anze] Kopitar and [Drew] Doughty are still really important players on our team,” Robitaille said of the team’s captains and five-time All-Stars, both of whom are in their mid-30s. “On other teams that has not happened.
“We feel we’re fortunate these guys are still premier players.”
Kings forward Kevin Fiala, right, celebrates with captain Anze Kopitar after scoring against the Vancouver Canucks on April 6.
(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
For Verbeek and the Ducks, the opposite has been true. Forwards Trevor Zegras, Leo Carlsson and Alex Killorn and goaltender John Gibson have all missed substantial time to injury this season, which is a big reason why the Ducks are better than only two other teams in goals scored, goals allowed and goal differential.
“It’s not ideal when your best players aren’t in the lineup — and they’re not in the lineup together, which was the intended purpose,” said Verbeek, who took over as Ducks general manager 26 months ago. “But, hey, every team deals with that. It’s just a little more pronounced now because we haven’t quite gotten the complete depth in our lineup that I’m looking for when we’re going to be good.”
There’s more to it than that, of course, because the Kings also lost key players — Viktor Arvidsson, Carl Grundstrom and Mikey Anderson — to injury. But the Kings overcame that with stellar seasons from Kopitar (26 goals, 70 points) and Doughty (15 goals, 50 points) in conjunction with the combined 86 goals and 114 assists they’ve gotten from Trevor Moore, Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala. Veteran goaltender Cam Talbot, who is arguably having his best season in eight years, also has been a key contributor.
However, the biggest turning point in the Kings’ season came in early February when the team fired coach Todd McLellan and promoted longtime assistant Jim Hiller. The Kings have won 20 of 32 games since the change and clinched a playoff berth by beating Calgary on Thursday.
Kings coach Jim Hiller instructs his players during a game against the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
“The system’s the same but I’m not sure it’s the same message,” Robitaille said. “We’re all grateful for what Todd has done. He put in a system that our guys believe in. Unfortunately it seemed like we needed just a different voice and Jim came in and his communication is different.”
Hiller, an assistant for 10 years with four NHL teams, has a reputation for being more of a players’ coach than McLellan, according to many around the team. However, Hiller said the biggest factor in the team’s success was the timing of his promotion. The Kings had lost 14 of 17 games heading into the All-Star break, which led to McLellan’s firing, then won five of their first six when the season resumed. They are a league-best 13-2-1 at home since the All-Star break.
“When you’re not winning, it’s heavy,” Hiller said. “So you try to lighten it and bring some fresh energy, see if that will help. I think coming out of the break the players were refreshed and ready to get going again.”
It’s going so well that Robitaille and general manager Rob Blake took some heat for not making a move at the March trade deadline, choosing instead to bolster the team with the return of Arvidsson and Anderson.
“You don’t want to make a trade just to make a trade,” Robitaille said. “If you’re going to make a trade, you have to say, ‘Is that guy better than our guy?’
“Our guys coming back, we like the way they play. We believe in the way our guys play. And when Arvidsson came back, it showed us that we’re right. Same with Mikey Anderson.”
The rebuilding Ducks, on the other hand, were active at the deadline, acquiring three draft picks and two useful players in forward Ben Meyers and center Jan Mysak while holding on to the core of their roster. Nothing has changed since the deadline — the team is 3-13-2 in their last 18 games.
Ducks forward Trevor Zegras controls the puck during a 3-1 loss to the Kings on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Nicole Vasquez / NHLI via Getty Images)
Now comes the playoffs — for the Kings, at least. If the team holds on to the third spot in the Pacific Division — it leads Las Vegas by three points with two games to play, both at home — it will likely begin the postseason by traveling to Edmonton to meet the Oilers for the third time in as many seasons.
“It doesn’t matter who we play. It’s going to be hard,” Robitaille said. “Every game is tight.”
The last two years, the team didn’t make it past the first round, so getting back to the players was a bare minimum this season. Getting past the first round is the expectation now, something the Kings haven’t done since winning their second Stanley Cup title in 2014.
However, the experience Anderson, Moore and other Kings players have gained over the last two seasons in the playoffs has Robitaille thinking back to the Kings’ first Stanley Cup championship team in 2012.
“The two years prior, we got [eliminated] in the first round,” he said. “And we were learning. We found a way to win all these 2-1, 3-2 games in the playoffs. That’s the way we’re playing now.
“You get in a playoff series and if you get one or two breaks, it makes it really hard for the other team to beat you. We played that style all year. We’re built more to play that playoff style.”
For the Ducks, it’s back to the drawing board. As for how long it will take to finish the picture, Verbeek couldn’t say.
“That’s a real tough question to answer,” said Verbeek, who has been a winner throughout his 38-year career as a player, scout and executive, twice hoisting the Stanley Cup. “The reason why it’s tough to answer is because at the end of the day, we’ve got a lot of young players and you don’t know how quick they’re going to make the adjustments to become impact players.”
“But I’m also being a realist,” he added. “I believe we’re going to have our time. It’s not quite yet, but I’m expecting next year to have our team pushing for a playoff spot. I’m not saying we’re going to make it. But I’m saying we should be involved.”
A lot has changed since Jacori Perry attended Morningside High School.
Perry is now a renowned artist who goes by the names Mr. Ace and AiseBorn.
The school is now known as Inglewood High School United.
And the lecture hall on that campus now features a large, ornate mural of a soccer ball being grasped by the hands of two people — freshly painted by the 2004 Morningside graduate as the city of Inglewood prepares to host eight World Cup games at SoFi Stadium starting next month.
Local artist Mr. Ace works on his mural at Inglewood High School United on May 11. The artists, whose real name is Jacori Perry, attended the school when it was known as Morningside High more than two decades ago.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
“If you told me that I would be back here painting one of the walls on this campus when I was in high school, I don’t think that I necessarily would have foreseen it,” Mr. Ace said as he was putting the finishing touches on his mural last week. “So I’m a little in amazement about just the way life works in that sense.”
He was one of several Los Angeles-based artists to participate in a Road to World Cup Community Day last month at Inglewood High United. Many of the artists — including Juan Pablo Reyes (“JP murals”), Michelle Ruby Guerrero (“Mr. B Baby”) and Angel Acordagoitia — sketched designs on portable panels (12-feet by 8-feet) and picnic tables for community members to paint.
The picnic tables will remain at the high school in front of Mr. Ace’s mural. The mobile murals will be placed throughout LAX to welcome visitors arriving for the World Cup.
Kathryn Schloessman, CEO of the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee, said in a news release that the event was “just one example of how the energy of the World Cup can be felt in neighborhoods across our region.”
“Students, artists, and volunteers came together to create a work of art that will live on well beyond the end of the tournament,” Schloessman said. “It’s a reflection of the creativity, diversity, and community pride that makes our region so special as we prepare to host the world for FIFA World Cup 2026.”
Community members were encouraged to take part in the painting process, no matter their skill level.
“We made it easy enough for people that have zero experience to a proficient level of experience, for them to all be involved,” said Reyes, who designed and helped paint two mural panels and three tables. “We did the sketch, and then I tried to dab a little bit of color — whatever color is supposed to be there, I dabbed a little bit of color right there, so they would have a guide. …
Students and community members help paint a mural panel during a Road to World Cup Community Day event May 2 at Inglewood High School.
(Dawn M. Burkes / Los Angeles Times)
“I was right there, kind of supervising, making sure that everything went as planned. And if anybody has questions, they’re more than welcome to let me know about them. But, yeah, it’s pretty easy for them to kind of be involved and feel that sense of ownership and have a sense of pride that, ‘Yeah, I was part of that mural-creation process.’ It’s a rich experience for them.”
Acordagoitia sketched several table-top designs for the public to paint at the event.
“They did great,” he said of the community members. “They helped a lot. They were asking questions. They got all the other colors correct. So, yeah, they were excited. A lot of kids were excited to see the live painting, because now kids are used to being on their phones. So that was a great experience for them.”
Acordagoitia also opted to paint a mural panel on his own because “it was a little more technical,” involving portraits of his 8-year-old son, a nephew and a friend.
“I wanted to focus more on the youth because that’s really our future,” he said. “So that’s, that’s the main thing about the mural, just about the kids, soccer, culture, community. It’s exciting for me, because I grew up playing soccer and to include soccer with art, it’s just a dream come true.”
Guerrero said “the community was a big help in filling in all the background colors that I need in order to build the detail and layers” on the two mural panels she designed.
“My whole style is based on culture. And I think that there’s a connection there with the World Cup and how I feel like it brings together all the culture and just, like, celebration,” Guerrero said. “It kind of goes hand in hand with the type of work I do, because my stuff is really festive, celebrating culture. And just as an L.A.-based artist, I think the collaboration made sense.”
The four artists also took part in another Road to World Cup Community Day in downtown L.A. at Gloria Molina Grand Park on March 14. At that event, the artists sketched designs on large sculptures shaped like soccer balls and an oversized picnic table, also for community members to paint.
While Mr. Ace opted to paint his permanent mural at Inglewood High School United on his own, he was sure to include the community theme into his work.
“The idea was really centered around just creating something that was community-based — something that represented the World Cup but also represented some sense of community,” he said. “And so what I did was try to create something that was symbolic, very direct in terms of its relationship to soccer and figuring out through that how to create something simple that [brings] into that a sense of community. And that’s how I landed on the two hands holding the soccer ball.”
Local artist Mr. Ace works on his World Cup-themed mural at Inglewood High School United on May 11.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Back when he was a student on that campus, Mr. Ace said he was always involved in art and knew he wanted a career as an artist. He struggled to come up with the right words to describe how it felt being back there creating a work of art to be shared with the students, all of the community and everyone who happens to see it on the way to a World Cup match.
“I guess there’s no words to really describe it,” he said. “I think if any artist gets the opportunity to paint at their own high school — especially if they’ve been doing large-scale works around the city, the country or the world — I think that is a little touching. When it’s attached to something like the World Cup … you know, a large part of my childhood was spent in Inglewood, so coming from my circumstances and life, I think it’s even more intriguing.”
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The best Indianapolis 500 finish could be subjective, depending on which driver a fan was rooting for to win.
It certainly is in the eye of the beholder.
So take this list for what it’s worth. One view of the 10 best finishes in Indianapolis 500 history. Of course, it skews to more recent decades when the runs have come a little faster and the finishes have had a tendency to be a little closer.
We’ll add one each day to this list of fantastic finishes ahead of the 110th running of the Indy 500 on May 24 (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX).
10. Ericsson outduels O’Ward (2022)
After a red flag, Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in a two-lap shootout. The shootout didn’t last two laps, though, as there was a crash on the final lap behind them. Ericsson had a comfortable lead when the red flag came out for a crash with four laps to go, a situation where in past Indianapolis 500 races, they likely would have ended the race under caution with Ericsson as the winner.
9. Foyt survives chaos (1967)
How does a driver who wins by two laps end up on this list? It’s because the win nearly didn’t happen on the last lap. A big crash with cars and debris littering the frontstretch just ahead of Foyt as he came to the checkered flag forced him to navigate through the wreckage for the win.
8. Sato can’t catch Franchitti (2012)
This was one of those finishes where the leader holds on for the win, but boy did the leader have to hold on. Takuma Sato tried to pass Dario Franchitti early on the final lap but to no avail and Franchitti sped off for the victory. This was one of those Indy 500s that made you hold your breath all the way to the checkered flag.
No. 8 UCLA stuck with right-hander Taylor Tinsley throughout the Los Angeles Regional and that faith in the senior paid off.
During the Bruins’ NCAA tournament opener at Easton Stadium, Tinsley gave up 10 runs before her teammates rallied for a walk-off win. She returned less than 24 hours to pitch against South Carolina, giving up two earned runs in a victory. Tinsley was back in the circle Sunday afternoon, yielding one run in UCLA’s 15-1 victory over the Gamecocks to advance to the super regionals.
“I am proud of Taylor’s resiliency, the ability to do whatever she can to help this team,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “She got stronger through the weekend. I am proud of that.”
Tinsley and her teammates will host Central Florida in a super regional that begins Friday.
“I feel good,” Tinsley said after pitching three key games in three days. “I could have gone more innings if needed.”
South Carolina right-hander Jori Heard gave up only one hit through two innings, keeping UCLA’s potent bats relatively quiet. The Gamecocks had runners on first and second with two outs in the second, but Tinsley escaped the inning with a pop-up to left field.
The Bruins got on the board first with a two-run home run from left fielder Rylee Slimp in the third inning. The Bruins followed it up by loading the bases with no outs in the fifth for right fielder Megan Grant.
Grant cooked up a grand slam to make it 6-0. She has 40 home runs, extending her hold on the NCAA single-season home run record. Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells trails Grant with 37 homers.
“Its just incredible because I am blessed to be able to say the number 40,” Grant said.
South Carolina broke through on an RBI single from left fielder Quincee Lilio to cut UCLA’s lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning after being held to just one hit since the first inning. The Gamecocks couldn’t cash in the rest of the way.
The Bruins resumed scoring in the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and Grant at bat again. Fans at Easton Stadium anticipated another grand slam, holding up their cellphones hoping to catch some magic. Grant served up a two-run RBI single to expand the lead 8-1.
Jordan Woolery added to the scoring with a two-run RBI double down the left-field line, and Kaniya Bragg hit a home run to left-center field. Soo-jin Berry put a bow on the win with one more home run.
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