The entire family had another shock Sunday morning when Alex saw the front page of The Times. The photograph was of their home, the garage ablaze in defiance of a lone firefighter.
"He said, 'Dad, here's my room right here. Here's our bonus room,' " Milhouse said. "Just amazing."
The pattern of destruction on the street "was very random," he said. "There were four in a row on our side of the street, one across the way, then it skipped one and then another one. . . . Theirs doesn't burn. Ours does. There's no rhyme or reason to that."
He didn't try to figure it out. Instead, he sought comfort from talking to and being with the people he considers family.
Ducks winger Teemu Selanne, who used to live on the same hill, called him Sunday morning. Angels Manager Mike Scioscia and coaches Mike Butcher and Mickey Hatcher consoled him. Former Angel Darin Erstad offered his home. Another former Angel, Jim Edmonds, texted him several times just to keep in touch.
"That meant everything, hearing from all those people," Milhouse said.
Besides Quincey's cut, which is expected to heal before the Kings practice on Tuesday, the Kings and Ducks didn't need Milhouse's services much.
The game was tame for these rivals. The Ducks scored at 11:36 of the second period when Corey Perry lifted a rebound over the right arm of Kings goalie Erik Ersberg, who was making his seventh straight start. About three minutes after Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller made a fine stop by the left post on Brian Boyle, Bret Hedican scored on a knuckler from 50 feet at 15:40 of the third.
The Kings went home to worry about having scored only once in back-to-back weekend losses to Nashville and the Ducks. The Ducks exhaled after their three-game winless streak ended. Milhouse was left to wonder what will come next for him.
"I would see things like this and couldn't imagine how people would feel. You're one of those persons, and it's a devastating thing," he said.
"But it's a house. A house can be rebuilt. This is the kind of thing that brings your family and friends together more. We're going to have to really band together, and all the offers of help from these people is really going to make a big difference."
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helene.elliott@latimes.com
