More Separates Two Teams Than Just Their Power Play

Terry Yake was talking about those slumbering giants to the north, the wake-us-when-it’s-April Kings, who happen to be the next opponent on the Mighty Ducks’ schedule--Friday night, on national television, with eighth place in the Western Conference on the line.

“We’re a better team than they are five-on-five,” Yake said so matter-of-factly that the words didn’t register a response until the surrounding group of writers stopped their scribbling long enough to study it.

Uh, Terry, I know they crank “Welcome To The Jungle” to 11 on the volume knob here, but my throbbing ears thought you just said . . .

“I guess you might say that’s having a lot of confidence,” Yake continued, beating those eardrums harder, “but those are the signs we’ve seen this year. I’m not comparing us to the team that made it to the Stanley Cup finals. That was last year. I can only go on what I’ve seen this year, and the only way they’ve been able to beat us is on the power play.”

Let’s go over this one more time, shall we?

Five-on-five, Yake says the Ducks are better than the Kings.

Five-on-five. That’s Anatoli Semenov, Yake, Tim Sweeney, Bobby Dollas and Alexei Kasatonov for the Ducks . . . and Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Tomas Sandstrom, Rob Blake and Alexei Zhitnik for the Kings, just for starters.

Todd Ewen, did you get a load of what Yake’s saying over here?

Ewen, the Ducks’ designated hitman, listened stoically as Yake’s words were recited for him.

Ewen didn’t even bat an eye.

“We are better five-on-five,” Ewen said.

“By far.

“We’ve got a lot more puck-getters on this team. We’re a solid four-line team, and when we involve all four corners and bump Jari Kurri and Wayne Gretzky off the puck, we are the better team.”

This should come as big news to Kings’ owner Bruce McNall, whose payroll is more than twice the size of Michael Eisner’s $7.9-million dip into the loose change jar.

Also to Kings’ Coach Barry Melrose, whose team is 3-0 against the Ducks, having outscored them, 11-5.

“Now,” Ewen added by way of disclaimer, “they’ve got a $12-million power play. That’s what’s been killing us.”

“We’ve taken too many unnecessary penalties,” Yake said. “We’ve helped them set up their power play. We play them tough for 60 minutes, but because of those (extra-man) chances, they’re the ones who have two points to show for at the end of the night.”

For the moment, the standings support Yake and Ewen. Despite their 0-3 run against the Kings, the Ducks continue to lead them in the race for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot, 46 points to 44. Sunday, the Ducks could have inflated that margin, but Sunday, the Ducks played a home game and you know what that means.

Sellout crowd of 17,174.

One-goal loss, 3-2, this time to Chicago.

Next for the Ducks are four days off and, then, Round 4 with the Kings, in front of the ESPN cameras. The Ducks are getting psyched for it, with many of them gathering around the TV screen Saturday night and cheering the Kings’ 5-4 loss to Calgary in overtime.

“We’re keeping a pretty close eye on what they’re doing,” Yake said. “I don’t know, as degradating (sic) as it sounds, we hope they lose every game. We get a break every night they lose. It keeps us in the race.”

That there is any race between the Kings and the Ducks, on this late date in February, is one of the genuine shocks of this hockey season. The Ducks have already outstripped the preseason forecast of their coach--Ron Wilson’s October prediction for 1993-94: 18 victories--and the Kings continue to flop around on the ice like a bunch of drunken seals.

“I expect the Kings every night to come out and blow somebody out,” said Ducks’ left wing Peter Douris, who is not alone. “Hopefully, people will keep coming in their building and beating them in overtime.”

Transition in this game can come quickly, Ewen maintains. Last year, the Kings reached the Stanley Cup finals, but last year “the Kings surprised people with the style they played,” Ewen said. “Nobody in the conference had the power play and the special teams that the Kings had.

“But once they got to the finals, Montreal shut them down by playing great defense, grinding the games out. That’s the style we play.

“Some people call it boring and say ‘clutch-and-grab’ should be banned from the league. But look at the success teams like Chicago and Montreal have had with it. We play it very well, too.”

Well enough to add a Game of the Week atmosphere to their national television debut Friday night, which Yake and Ewen did their best to stoke Sunday.

Consider the alarm sounded.

Now, we’ll see if the Kings arise, or hit the snooze button and roll over.