Ducks Pile It on Kings in 6-2 Win

The last time Teemu Selanne saw his friend and former teammate Paul Kariya, the Mighty Ducks were in the process of dealing the Nashville Predators a thorough beating.

At the time, the Ducks had just worked their way into the Western Conference playoff picture.

“I told Paul when they were here you guys better start playing better or we’re going to catch you,” Selanne said. “He laughed. I don’t think he believed me. But I don’t think he’s laughing anymore.”

The Ducks continued their blitz through the conference Tuesday night with the desperate Kings as the victim. Selanne had two goals for the second consecutive game and the Ducks scored four times in the third period on the way to a 6-2 victory at the Arrowhead Pond.

The win extended their home winning streak to a franchise-record seven games and they’ve scored at least five goals in each of the victories. Kariya may have reason to worry now as the Ducks (40-23-12) pulled to within two points of the fourth-place Predators.

“We have just played so well right now,” said Selanne, whose four points Tuesday gave him 22 in the last 10 games. “We have a lot of confidence.”

Samuel Pahlsson also scored twice for the second consecutive game and Joffrey Lupul and Corey Perry added goals as they dimmed the Kings’ playoff hopes.

The Kings missed a chance to jump past idle Vancouver into eighth place. The loss made Thursday’s home game against San Jose a must-win; the Sharks also have 85 points with three games in hand on the Kings.

“There’s only one way we can look at it now,” King captain Mattias Norstrom said. “We have five games left. There are 10 points out there. That would get us to 95 points and we’d take our chances.”

Efforts like the one against the Ducks won’t help them. The Kings, playing one day after an emotional 1-0 victory over Vancouver, wilted as the game went on against a faster team.

The Ducks had a 41-18 shot advantage and could have scored more if not for several point-blank saves by King goaltender Mathieu Garon.

Garon has been wobbly at times but his confidence had been on the rise after consecutive shutouts against Dallas and Vancouver. On Tuesday, he made it clear that he wants to be the one in the net as the Kings hang on to their glimmer of hope.

“He came to me and told me he wanted it,” King interim Coach John Torchetti said.

Garon didn’t face the kind of relentless attack he saw Tuesday. He stopped 27 shots against Dallas and turned back all 23 against the Canucks but the Ducks had already blew past both totals before the end of the second period.

Garon’s shutout streak ended at a career-best 137 minutes, 27 seconds when Selanne resumed his assault against the Kings.

Selanne, who had two goals and scored his 1,000th point in the teams’ last meeting Jan. 30, got a breakout pass from Andy McDonald and beat the goaltender with a backhand shot between his pads at the 10:30 mark of the first period.

Tim Gleason and Craig Conroy gave the Kings a 2-1 lead after one period, but that was when the Ducks turned up their turbocharged offense.

Selanne opened the third with his team-leading 38th goal and Pahlsson scored at the 11-minute mark for insurance.

Pahlsson added an empty-net goal and Corey Perry added insult to injury with a score in the final second.

“We had a 2-1 lead on the road in a game that was as big as it gets,” King forward Michael Cammalleri said. “We didn’t get the job done.”