Ducks Pull the Plug on Kings : NHL: Revived power play sparks 5-2 victory. Gretzky stuck at 799 goals.

So the rededicated Kings mustered all their resolve this week--and managed to manhandle the NHL’s worst team, the Ottawa Senators.

But one day after their mammoth positive-thinking session, the Kings were positively embarrassed Wednesday by the Mighty Ducks, who beat them for the first time, 5-2, in front of 17,174 at Anaheim Arena.

And the Ducks aren’t a harmless rival. They are the Kings’ competition in pursuit of San Jose for the final Western Conference playoff spot, and by winning the Ducks crawled back into the thick of it. They trail eighth-place San Jose by four points--though San Jose could easily regain the ground tonight, when the Sharks play Ottawa.

“Over the last month, I haven’t heard (the Kings) mention us as being ahead of them in the playoff race,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “It’s always been San Jose. Now hopefully we’ll get their respect. They looked past us maybe. I think we’ve finally earned their respect.”

The Kings remain seven points back, but two games against San Jose this weekend could decide whether their playoff hopes are dead in the water.

“What do you want me to say?” King Coach Barry Melrose said. “There are no excuses. I’ve never made excuses. We’ve got to make up seven points. If we don’t beat (San Jose), that will make it tough.”

The last time the Kings and Ducks played, Wayne Gretzky won the game almost single-handedly with an inspired five-point performance.

This time, Gretzky was so ill with the flu that he vomited on the team bus the night before the game and was inhaling oxygen on the bench during the game.

He got no closer to Gordie Howe’s all-time NHL record of 801 goals. No. 99 is still on 799. Gretzky made a game effort, putting five shots on goal and getting a breakaway opportunity called back for the second consecutive night, though he didn’t get a shot off before the two-line pass was called.

The Ducks, who’ve been dragging lately and tended to implode in the big games, suddenly found jump in legs Wilson thought were exhausted.

Tim Sweeney scored two goals, and the Ducks got a spark from recently acquired center Stephan Lebeau and right wing John Lilley, who played for the U.S. Olympic team in Lillehammer and was making his NHL debut.

Also crucial was the play of backup goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov, whose recent sharpness earned him the start. He made 31 saves for his second NHL victory.

Most important, though, was the suddenly revived Duck power play, which had recently dropped to last in the NHL.

After scoring on only three of their previous 63 chances with a man advantage, the Ducks scored three power-play goals against the Kings--and turned a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 lead.

“We’ve been working on it the last couple of days,” Sweeney said. “A couple of us finally said, the hell with it, let’s make this thing work.”

The puck movement was as crisp as it has been, and the playmaking was so alert it seemed as if different players were in the Ducks’ uniforms.

With Tony Granato off for holding early in the second, Duck right wing Terry Yake faked a shot from the left side, then passed cleanly across the slot to defenseman David Williams, whose shot beat Kelly Hrudey at 3:22.

Later, with Alexei Zhitnik off for holding, Lebeau swooped in to knock home a loose rebound from the right side of the net.

The Kings trailed, 3-1, after two periods but had to kill off the end of a Jari Kurri high-sticking penalty to start the third. They didn’t do it, as Sweeney scored on a rebound 40 seconds into the period. That gave the Ducks a three-goal lead--big enough to dig in defensively for the rest of the game.

Sweeney added another goal in the third for a 5-1 lead, and it stood up despite a review that appeared to show him directing it in with his skate.

Mike Donnelly scored the Kings’ second goal, but it was too little, too late.

The Ducks started the scoring at 12:27 of the first period, after Lebeau sent Joe Sacco out on a breakaway with a perfect pass that the speedy Sacco picked up out front and converted.

Before the period was over, Robert Lang tied the score when he put a move on defenseman Mark Ferner in front of the Ducks’ net and went around him to score.

But then came a series of undisciplined penalties by the Kings--and surprising power play efficiency by the Ducks.

“We’ve put ourselves in this predicament,” Hrudey said. “We’ve used up every excuse. But I also still believe you always believe.”

Notes

Canadian Olympic star Paul Kariya, whose contract talks with the Mighty Ducks remain stalled, said he doesn’t feel compelled to join the NHL before the season ends. “It can wait,” Kariya told Canadian Press from his family’s home in North Vancouver, B.C. “(This is) the first chance I’ve really had to regroup and rest in two years. That has to be good for me. My body feels rested, not battered and bruised. I do not feel any necessity to play in the NHL right now.” With the sides still millions apart on a multiyear deal, the next team Kariya plays with probably will be Team Canada at the World Championships in April in Italy. “If things do not get resolved, I would love to play in the World Championships, it would be redemption,” said Kariya, who was stopped on a penalty shot in a shootout in the Olympic gold-medal game against Sweden. “I’ve gone over that penalty shot about 200 times in my mind.” . . . Duck center Anatoli Semenov returned after missing the last seven games because of a sore elbow.