Streak Alive as Ducks Beat the Kings, 5-1 : Hockey: Krygier scores twice and has an assist as Anaheim defeats Los Angeles to stay unbeaten in last five matchups.

Todd Krygier failed to crack the 20-goal barrier in any of his first five NHL seasons, and probably won’t this season either because of the lockout-abbreviated schedule.

But the Mighty Ducks have been giving the left wing more of an opportunity to excel than he received in Hartford or Washington. Krygier scored twice and had an assist Sunday as Anaheim extended its unbeaten streak against the Kings to five games with a 5-1 victory.

“Even though I’ve played close to 400 games in the league, I never really got a chance to reach my full potential,” said Krygier, a former first-round draft pick by the Whalers whom the Ducks obtained Feb. 2 from the Capitals for a 1996 draft pick.

“I think my career has changed in a lot of ways, just because of the positive atmosphere around here and knowing that I’m going to get a chance to play--and prove that I can play.”

With Krygier’s help, the Ducks have dramatically reversed their Southern California rivalry with the Kings after losing the first four meetings last season.

The only thing separating the Ducks from a five-game winning streak against their freeway foes is Dan Quinn’s penalty shot for the Kings with 67 seconds left in the third period of their 3-3 tie on March 21 at Anaheim Arena.

“We’ve played pretty well against them this year, but we should have three wins,” rookie Paul Kariya said. “We certainly raise our level of play for them, which is only natural when you get in a cross-town rivalry like that.”

Wayne Gretzky, who had two goals and three assists in one of the victories against the Ducks last season following some negative remarks about him by Ducks president Tony Tavares, had nothing but praise for them on Sunday.

“There’s no question they deserved to win the game,” Gretzky said. “I think everybody likes to ‘Beat L.A.’ And that’s always going to be the case. They’re a very well-coached team, they’re young and very aggressive. Obviously, there’s a rivalry that’s building.”

Gretzky, who had an assist on Kurri’s goal, needs one more goal or assist to become the first NHL player in history with 2,500 career points.

Jari Kurri returned from a stubborn groin injury and tied the score 1-1 only 50 seconds into the second period with his seventh goal, tapping in a rebound after his initial shot deflected off Guy Hebert’s glove and the crossbar. But Kariya regained the lead for Anaheim 46 seconds later, beating Kelly Hrudey over the right shoulder with a backhander from the slot.

The 20-year-old rookie leads the Ducks with 14 goals--six more than runner-up Joe Sacco, whose season included a 14-game goal-scoring drought and a seven-game absence because of a broken left thumb he suffered on Feb. 5 against the Kings. One reason for Kariya’s wide disparity over his teammates in goals is that he entered the game with 41 more shots than anyone else on the team.

“As a group, we do have to shoot the puck more,” Kariya said. “At the start of the year we especially had trouble with that, but it’s been getting better. I’ve had to change my game, and I’m enjoying shooting the puck more.”

Kariya’s cross-ice pass set up Sacco’s ninth goal at 5:07 of the second period, increasing Anaheim’s lead to 3-1. Sacco got his sixth goal in nine games, beating Hrudey high to the glove side on a power play with Troy Crowder off for interference.