Kings’ Motto: Hang in There

Andy Murray had a bandage on the middle finger of his left hand Saturday morning and cuts on the index finger, souvenirs of an accidental and painful encounter with a skate blade. But hey, this is hockey. You tape an aspirin to it and get back out there. No whining. No excuses.

And so the Kings’ coach was behind the bench at Staples Center on Saturday night for his team’s 4-2 victory over the Mighty Ducks, an unwitting but perfect symbol of what the Kings have experienced this season.

Despite absorbing injury after injury, despite wobbling through a 14-game winless streak, despite special teams that rank at or near the bottom of the NHL in efficiency, the Kings are one point behind Dallas for the eighth Western Conference playoff spot and have two games in hand. They continue to find ways to win.

The Ducks, meanwhile, continue to find ways to lose.

Any thoughts that their 6-2 rout of the Minnesota Wild on Friday put them back on a playoff track were rudely contradicted Saturday. The Kings’ relentless energy and perseverance drove Duck goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere to punish the post to his right with a nasty, two-handed swat of his stick after he was beaten a third time, an uncharacteristic display by the 2003 playoff MVP.

“Jiggy’s a real emotional guy, a real passionate guy,” Duck Coach Mike Babcock said. “That just showed his frustration. It all boiled over.”

Giguere later apologized for his petulance. “We can’t quit,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep battling. I don’t know what the other guys are going to do, but I’m going to keep working and trying to get better.”

They’ll have to get a lot better.

It is confounding and confusing, but here it is. The defending Western Conference champion Ducks are 11 points out of a playoff spot with 50 games behind them and 32 remaining. The Kings are the best hope of seeing playoff hockey in Southern California this spring.

“The key thing is if we get 94 points, we’ll get to the playoffs,” Murray said. “No team has ever gotten 94 points and not made the playoffs.... These games are just so draining themselves that if I worry if Dallas won I’d be a mental wreck. I told our team to expect everyone else to win.”

Tim Leiweke, King president, has made enough unfulfilled promises for critics to emphasize the first syllable of his last name with demonic glee. But he said Saturday the Kings will make the playoffs and that he has given General Manager Dave Taylor permission to add reinforcements via trades before the March 9 trade deadline.

Not New York Ranger-type, break-the-bankroll moves. But with Peter Bondra and Olaf Kolzig likely to follow Jaromir Jagr out of Washington, and with gaps developing in both conferences between playoff contenders and bottom-feeders, some quality players could soon be on the market.

“I said at the beginning of the year this is the best team we’ve had in terms of depth,” Leiweke said. “I don’t know of any team in the league that can lose its top four players and keep going like we have. I credit Andy for the motivation and Dave for the depth.

“Dave has been given the green light [to make moves]. It’s not a matter of money at this point. If he sees a deal he likes, he can make it, but I don’t want him to give away any of our good, young kids.... If a deal makes sense and someone’s dumping salary, we’re in good position.

“I’d like to see him make a move, so he has the green light. I like that he’s been cautious and not giving away the future. You see a team like New York, [with a payroll] at $85 million or $90 million, you don’t want to follow them off the bridge.”

The Ducks are likely to be sellers, not buyers, before the trade deadline. General Manager Bryan Murray said he plans to meet with coaches and scouts this week to assess what they have, which way they should go and whether this season can be salvaged.

He won’t tear up the team but will look intently at what has gone so wrong.

“We have to see here over the next couple of weeks if we can be competitive enough,” he said. “If we get points. Not just ties, but to win games. If it’s a situation at that point where we’re within striking range, and you look at your schedule, and is it realistic or not.”

The answer is probably no. If they play more games like they did Saturday, the answer definitely will be no.

“These are big games for us,” Duck captain Steve Rucchin said. “There are a lot of teams in front of us. These are games we need and we’re not getting it done.”

The Kings are getting things done, but they have one unfinished task: re-signing Andy Murray, whose contract expires after this season. It’s on their to-do list.

“Andy’s fine. Andy’s going to be here a long time,” Leiweke said. “Dave will take care of it soon.”

That’s one promise the Kings must keep.