Kings Getting Mighty Tired of the Ducks : Hockey: Anaheim scores early and often in 5-1 victory and is unbeaten in last five games against Los Angeles.

The Mighty Ducks are supposed to be the Kings’ sparring partners, there to provide competition but no real threat.

But the Ducks landed an early blow Sunday afternoon when defenseman Milos Holan scored 22 seconds into the game, and then they goaded and jabbed until they finally decked the Kings, 5-1, in front of 17,174 at The Pond of Anaheim. The Kings, it seems, are having a little trouble with their punching bag.

They beat the Ducks the first four times they played the new team last season but haven’t defeated them the last five times they’ve met, managing only one tie.

“Every time we play them, they seem to play like the Stanley Cup champions and we don’t match their intensity,” said King goalie Kelly Hrudey.

Left wing Todd Krygier had two goals and an assist for the Ducks, and rookie Paul Kariya scored his 14th goal of the season and added two assists. Jari Kurri scored the Kings’ lone goal.

The frustration showed at the end, when the Kings’ Marty McSorley was assessed a five-minute major for elbowing Bobby Dollas’ head along the boards and then both teams ended up in a scrum in front of the Kings’ net.

“It was a little bit of a cheap shot but it doesn’t matter,” Dollas said. “We have the two points and they don’t. You want to hit them where it hurts most, on the scoreboard.”

The Kings are trying to fight for playoff position but instead they fell into the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot, three points ahead of San Jose.

The Ducks used the victory to escape last place, passing Edmonton. They are five points behind the Kings.

“I like our situation a lot better than the teams’ behind us,” Melrose said. Those teams’ view of the Kings is improving, however.

The Kings-Ducks rivalry may be young, but it is thriving.

“There’s going to be bad blood. There have been things said,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said.

Last season, Anaheim President Tony Tavares said Wayne Gretzky gets calls by whining to referees, and Gretzky shut him up with a two-goal, five-point performance that single-handedly beat the Ducks.

The headliner in the latest chapter is Dave Karpa. He’s the defenseman who was rejected by the Kings earlier this season as unfit to play because of a wrist injury and previous back surgery. Less than a week after the Kings had their trade with Quebec for Karpa voided, the Ducks acquired him.

Sunday afternoon, Karpa was playing his 16th game for the Ducks, and he was in his usual irksome form, picking a squabble with Gretzky early in the game and then knocking him down, only to get the last laugh when the rarely penalized Gretzky ended up in the box for slashing.

Karpa had two assists and played the general irritant to the Kings, somehow without adding a penalty minute to his total of 44. He’s the kind of player only a teammate could like.

“Pshew, I’m sure glad he’s with us,” Wilson said. “I think the Kings wish they had him too. I think we lucked out on that deal. He’s a pain to play against. He’s in your face.”

Melrose as much as admitted he wished the trade were never voided.

“That’s not a coach’s decision to make. That’s a medical decision. Coaches aren’t part of medical decisions,” he said. “David is exactly what we thought he was. He plays hard.”

The Kings were frustrated, but ultimately they had nobody to blame but themselves.

“Our problem all season is that we’ve played well against the teams above us and not so well against the teams below us,” Gretzky said. “We can’t do that the next 10 games (or so), playing against Anaheim, San Jose and Edmonton.”

McSorley agreed.

“We’ve got to play a little more gritty and give teams more respect,” he said. “These are NHL players and we have to act accordingly.”

Notes

Right wing Jari Kurri and defenseman Rob Blake returned to the Kings’ lineup, but right wing John Druce sat out because of a groin injury. Coach Barry Melrose said he is hopeful Druce and right wing Rick Tocchet will return Wednesday against Calgary at the Forum. . . . Wayne Gretzky had an assist, bringing his career point total to 2,499.

The Ducks bought out the final year of forward Tim Sweeney’s contract after he cleared waivers last week. Sweeney, 27, was the team’s fourth-leading scorer last season but dropped out of the lineup this season and played in only 13 games, scoring two points. Sweeney was scheduled to make about $285,000 next season even if he played in the minors for the Ducks. He has signed with the minor league Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. . . . The Kings returned left wings Jeff Shevalier and Dave Thomlinson to minor league affiliate Phoenix of the International Hockey League.