Bonino registers hat trick as Ducks top rival Kings

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A day after racking up two goals on his 22nd birthday, Kyle Palmieri was not about to let the party die out.

More important for the Anaheim Ducks, he continued the celebration with some buddies.

Palmieri notched the go-ahead goal late in the second period, and Nick Bonino added his first career hat trick as the Ducks continued their scorching offensive start with a 7-4 win over the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night at the Honda Center.

Off to their best start since 2006-07 at 5-1-1, the Ducks shattered the team record for goals through seven games with 27, six more than the previous high set in 1996-97.

In a heated matchup against their bitter rival -- which just so happened to win the Stanley Cup last season -- the Ducks were not about to cool down. Particularly not at home, with fans on both sides frothing at the mouth.

"It was a really emotional game for us and a huge rivalry," said Palmieri, who helped the Ducks beat the Minnesota Wild 3-1 Friday. "That emotion -- it drives you through those back-to-back nights, and we came alive in the third period, protected a lead and stayed right on top of them. We knew they were going to have a push at the end there, and we were able to keep at it and keep the pressure going on them."

Added Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau: "When the crowd hates each other as much as that, and it gets that loud, that's what this sport is all about. I thought that was cool."

The only player who was perhaps cooler than Palmieri on Saturday night? Bonino.

The fourth-line center registered his first career multi-goal game after delivering early and late for the Ducks. He scored two first-period goals and a third-period goal that iced the game for Anaheim.

"I can't really describe it," Bonino said. "I haven't scored a ton of goals in my career so far, so it feels real good to get three here."

Bonino scored at 8:39 of the third period, assisted by Bobby Ryan and Luca Sbisa, to put the Ducks up two goals following Palmieri's third goal in two days late in the second period.

The Ducks took a 5-4 lead at 16:14 of the second period. Anaheim found an offensive advantage on a power play, moved the puck from player to player and eventually to Palmieri, who flipped the puck past Jonathan Bernier. The Kings' regular goalie had replaced Jonathan Quick after Quick allowed two goals in the first six minutes.

Los Angeles (2-3-2) tied it at 4-4 after Justin Williams crept from behind the right side of the goal and tapped the puck up and off Jonas Hiller's pads and into the net at the 14:12 mark in the second period. That came less than five minutes after Anaheim seized the lead once more on a Sheldon Souray power-play goal that hit Bernier in the chest but dropped behind him.

"We came back multiple times, and in turn we didn't kill a penalty," Williams said. "They came back and scored power-play goals on us, and that's extremely deflating."

Souray's goal came eight minutes after Dustin Brown notched his second goal of the game, delivering a power-play conversion on a rebound of a Drew Doughty shot less than two minutes into the second period.

The Ducks claimed a 3-2 lead late in the first period on a Ryan Getzlaf goal at the 13:30 mark. He poked the puck past Bernier after working for perfect positioning in front of the goal and receiving a pinpoint pass from Corey Perry.

"Resiliency; I think that's kind of been one of our mottos," Bonino said. "If they strike, we strike right back. We were never down on the bench, we were never down in the locker room. We were always confident and just came out and played hard."

NOTES: Bonino's hat trick was the 39th in Anaheim history.... The 11 goals scored between the two teams tied for the series record. ... Los Angeles claimed a 3-1-2 season-series win over Anaheim last year, including three straight victories to close the series. ... The two teams square off four times this year in the Freeway Series, twice in February (including Saturday) and twice in April. ... The Kings are 15-4-3 in their past 22 road games. ... Teemu Selanne registered eight points against the Kings in 2011-12. He scored the game's final goal Saturday. ... Anaheim concluded its second set of back-to-back home games this year. The Ducks have 10 such stretches in the lockout-shortened season, after having just 12 in team history before this season.