Ducks have much to celebrate despite blowout loss to rival Kings

"R.J. Prewitt has been a Ducks fan since the first puck dropped in Anaheim, so he's known good times and bad. He was there when the team won the Stanley Cup in 2007, for example, and when it took another final to a seventh game four seasons earlier. But he was also there through each of the last seven seasons, when the Ducks never placed higher than sixth in the Pacific Division and finished a combined 74 games under .500."

"Because after entering December atop the division standings for the first time in more than a decade, the Ducks have lost six of their last eight, with the most ignominious loss coming Saturday in a 6-1 thrashing by their neighborhood rivals and winger Alex Laferriere, who got his first career hat trick."

"For the Kings, the season-high six goals comes at the end of a slide that had seen them lose six of their last seven, averaging less than two goals a game over that stretch. Laferriere scored more than that by himself Saturday. The Kings' first two goals, from Drew Doughty and Trevor Moore, came in the first four minutes."

R.J. Prewitt has been a Ducks fan since Anaheim's first puck and has seen the team win the Stanley Cup in 2007 and reach other deep playoff rounds, but also endure seven seasons of poor records and a combined 74 games under .500. The Ducks entered December atop the Pacific Division for the first time in more than a decade, then lost six of eight games, including a 6-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings when Alex Laferriere recorded his first career hat trick. The Kings scored early and took a 4-0 lead into the break. Coach Joel Quenneville called the play unacceptable and stressed the need to recapture consistency.

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