Los Angeles saved some of the magic they mustered up for their historical quarterfinal comeback for Saturday's contest, winning what will be remembered as the start of the first all Southern California playoff series in any major professional sport 3-2 in overtime over the Anaheim Ducks.
The game started out as a tight defensive battle between the two rivals. Neither team seemed to want to gamble offensively, playing more conservative styles to do their part to limit the opposition's scoring chances. Los Angeles would register the game's opening goal 9:04 in to the first period. After Anaheim's Matt Beleskey was called for hooking Mike Richards of the Kings, Los Angeles converted on the powerplay as Marian Gaborik brought the puck out from the right corner to the front of net to find Alec Martinez who slipped the puck past Jonas Hiller. The powerplay tally sparked the Kings fans in the Honda Center, who seemed to make up a large potion of the overall attendance. Beleskey would get one back for Anaheim later in the period, capitalizing on a nice play orchestrated by Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf. After a nice move on Jake Muzzin, Getzlaf caught Jonathan Quick out of position, just in time to find Beleskey staring at a wide-open goal.
The second period exemplified more of the defensive styles both teams seemed focused on. The teams each had ten shots on net, but both Quick and Hiller came up big to ensure the game remained deadlocked at one. The third period opened up a bit, finding both teams generating more scoring opportunities. Teemu Selanne helped Anaheim take their first lead of the game eight minutes in to the third, slipping the puck between Quick's pads. This tally seemed to be enough to secure a Ducks win in Game 1, until Gaborik scored his first of the game with a mere seven seconds remaining in regulation. Richards desperately threw the puck to the front of the net, and after taking a bounce off of Brian Allen's stick, Gaborik batted the puck out of the air past Hiller to send the game into overtime.
The Anaheim Ducks jumped all over the Kings early in to the overtime period. Corey Perry nearly ended the game early on, but Martinez saved the game for Los Angeles, kicking out the left leg to rob Perry of his open net chance. Devante Smith-Pelly also had a chance to wrap up the game for the Ducks, only to be denied down low by Quick. Minutes after, Anze Kopitar found the puck just above the right faceoff circle with a bit of time to find Marion Gaborik just to the right of Hiller.
Gaborik's overtime strike put an end to what would be the first playoff game between two teams both residing in Southern California. Fans of both teams had to wait over two decades to see this matchup. Yet, fans of other professional clubs that call Southern California home are still waiting for this type of series. Never before has the MLB, NFL, or NBA hosted a postseason series pitting two Southern California franchises against one another. For a region that has left its mark in the American professional sports history, a NHL semifinal between two teams separated by thirty miles is a first of what could be many. The past few seasons have found both the Kings and Ducks making progress to establish themselves as elite teams in the NHL. If both clubs can continue with this success, the rivalry can be intensified with multiple playoff meetings. The Los Angeles Lakers can potentially meet the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA playoffs, but judging by the way both teams finished this season, the Lakers have some work to do before that meeting can take place. Los Angeles Dodgers fans and Los Angeles Angels fans can only see this dream postseason matchup if they meet in the World Series. Based on the likelihood of any of these three scenarios taking place, it was only safe to guess that the Kings-Ducks series would have happened first. Game 1 set the stage for this first ever all So-Cal series to be one that fans beyond the region will soon forget.