Only His Mind Was Blanked : Hockey: Otto scores two goals during 9-4 victory over Kings, the second on instinct.

Usually, on those rare opportunities when he is bearing down on an opposing goalie one-on-one, the Calgary Flames’ Joel Otto has a plan for the puck. A thought.

But not Wednesday night at the Olympic Saddledome. As he traveled up the ice separating him from the Kings’ Kelly Hrudey, Otto’s mind went blank.

Not the minds of the fans seated directly behind the net, however. They had one overriding thought: Duck!

It wasn’t necessary.

Otto, who has been known to separate more than one spectator from his refreshments with a wild shot in the past, did his best impression of Mario Lemieux.

He calmly shifted the puck from forehand to backhand and back to forehand and then smoothly smacked it over Hrudey’s left shoulder.

“I usually have something in mind,” Otto said, “but this time, nothing. I was going to go in with the backhand, but something said, ‘Bring it to the forehand.’ ”

The goal was a big one, giving Calgary a 5-1 lead during its 9-4 victory in Game 2 of this best-of-seven Smythe Division semifinal playoff series.

It was Otto’s second goal of the night, the other being just as unlikely.

When the Kings took a a 1-0 lead into the second period, the Flames needed a spark.

Otto didn’t seem to be the one who was going to supply it five minutes into that second period.

Not when you consider his stick was lying on the ice.

But the veteran center picked it up just in time to receive a spinning pass from Gary Roberts. Otto did the rest, smashing the puck past Hrudey to tie the score.

“Gary put it on my stick and (Hrudey) was out of position,” Otto said. “In the playoffs, sometimes you need a little luck.”

The Flames scored three more second-period goals before sending two men to the penalty box. The Kings had a five-on-three advantage for 30 seconds and perhaps a chance to get back into the game.

Instead, they got only one shot with the two-man edge.

And when Otto emerged first from the box, teammate Kevin Dahl whipped the puck down the ice to Otto’s feet.

Otto never broke stride in sailing in on Hrudey to score the club’s fifth goal of the period, a team playoff record for a period.

“Everyone likes to contribute offensively,” Otto said.

But the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder also contributed quite a bit defensively as the center on the line that checked Wayne Gretzky’s line, holding Gretzky to a single shot.

“He’s too good to try and do anything against individually,” Otto said. “All five guys have to work together. He’s got talent you can’t describe. You’ve just got to take away his wingers.”

Until Otto starting looking like Gretzky at the offensive end, the Flames were wondering if they were ever going to get into this series.

They had talked about being nervous in Game 1, about lacking discipline and cohesiveness.

After falling behind, 1-0, in the first 20 minutes Wednesday, they talked in terms of desperation.

“There was certainly some urgency,” said Calgary’s Theoren Fleury. “We knew we needed a great second period.”

No argument from teammate Joe Nieuwendyk.

“We took it upon ourselves that enough is enough,” Nieuwendyk said. “We were all a little frustrated. Thank God, it happened sooner rather than later.”