Huet Has Carte Blanche and Delivers Again, 2-1

With the weight of the Kings and a playoff run resting on his shoulder pads, Cristobal Huet looked as unencumbered as can be.

After all, he’s used to carrying an entire nation.

Huet, one of a handful of French-born players to ever play in the NHL, continued to help keep alive the King playoff hopes and all but killed those of the Mighty Ducks in a 2-1 victory Saturday before a standing-room crowd of 18,207 at Staples Center.

With a French TV crew monitoring his every step the last few days, Huet stopped 29 shots, including 13 in the third period, and the Kings moved to seventh place in the Western Conference with 18 games left, including a rematch today at the Arrowhead Pond. The Kings are 3-0-1 against the Ducks this season.

The Ducks, Stanley Cup finalists last season, fell 11 points behind the Kings with an effort that signaled little more than the first few pages of an epilogue. Their power play was held to one shot in four man-advantage situations and their defense was listless as the Kings reeled off 37 shots -- 12 in the first period, 13 in the second, 12 in the third.

The Kings, as they have in recent weeks, picked up production from various sources: Luc Robitaille, 38, continued to defy time with a goal and an assist, and, at the other end of the spectrum, Tomas Zizka, 24, opened the scoring and ran his point-scoring streak to four games.

As for Huet, who grew up in St. Martin D’Heres, a town of 37,000 known more for its picturesque setting than NHL-caliber talent: Two goals given up in his last nine periods and a 3-0-1 record since Roman Cechmanek was sidelined because of a groin injury.

“Playing in the NHL is probably the most pressured job you can find,” said Huet, a member of the French Olympic team in 1998 and 2002 who most recently has stopped 76 of 78 shots in his last three games. “There is the playoff picture and everybody’s looking and that was a big two points for us.”

It started with Zizka, who scored his second NHL goal in his 24th career game by smacking a rebound of Robitaille’s shot past Jean-Sebastien Giguere at 14:46 of the first period.

Robitaille’s line supplied a 2-0 lead at 8:21 of the third, cycling in the Duck zone and cobbling together the kind of scoring effort that defines the Kings.

Derek Armstrong headed toward the net and sent a blind backhand pass to the slot that skipped over Trent Klatt’s stick. Robitaille scooped up the puck, moved it from backhand to forehand and snapped it off Giguere’s left shoulder, into the net.

“We were dangerous today,” said Robitaille, who scored his 17th goal after being held to a career-low 11 last season with the Detroit Red Wings. “I think almost every shift we had a chance, and when you get a scoring chance almost every shift, you know sooner or later the puck is going to go in.”

The Ducks, who billed this weekend as the backdrop for a final playoff push, were pushed around throughout.

Veterans Sergei Fedorov, Steve Rucchin, Vaclav Prospal and Petr Sykora were held without a goal for a fifth consecutive game, leaving the offense to rookie Joffrey Lupul, whose wrist shot from the left circle pulled the Ducks within 2-1 at 9:48 of the third period.

“Sammy Pahlsson has been a star the last five games [and] Lupul has been playing well,” Duck Coach Mike Babcock said. “So you can say we’re getting something from our young players and role players.”

Lupul, who had two quality scoring chances in the last 6:30 that could have tied the score, propped the Ducks up on the ice in the third period, and was the only player found in the dressing room immediately afterward to rehash the loss.

“There was a feeling we had to get it done and we didn’t,” Lupul said. “We have the standings hanging in the room. We knew we needed to win two this weekend. We didn’t seem to have any urgency or anything like that.”

In the other room, the Kings were taking the opposite approach. Despite the five-team scrum for the last four playoff spots in the West, the standings board in their room is barren, practically ignored.

“I couldn’t tell you who’s got points for what team,” said King Coach Andy Murray, now three victories away from tying Bob Pulford’s team-record 178 career victories. “In fact, I’ve messed up a couple times in radio interviews and had to be corrected by the radio guys. I’m only concerned about us.”