Mighty Ducks’ Kids Surprise Flames, 4-2 : Hockey: Wilson relying on youth and enthusiasm in bid to reach playoffs.

Some people believe that this time of the season belongs to veterans, but Mighty Duck Coach Ron Wilson doesn’t mind having a bunch of kids on his team down the stretch.

“Experienced guys don’t at times believe you can make the playoffs,” Wilson said. But the youngsters?

“They come in a little naive. I’m preaching that we have a chance to make the playoffs, and here are young players who honestly believe we’re good enough to make the playoffs. A lot of youthful enthusiasm goes a long way.”

The young Ducks have spent too much time this season in last place, but they beat the Pacific Division-leading Calgary Flames, 4-2, Thursday night, and with that they joined the horde chasing the Kings.

San Jose trails the Kings by one point in the race for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot, and the Ducks are three points back, tied with Winnipeg. Edmonton is just four points behind the Kings. With Dallas in seventh place by one point, six teams are within five points of each other seeking the final two spots.

The Ducks have two games left against the Kings. “They do have more experience than we have,” Wilson said. “We’ll be relying on our enthusiasm and youth and the fact that it would be a huge upset if we can overtake them.”

The game against Calgary was a tight 2-1 affair until less than four minutes remained, when Peter Douris sneaked a wraparound shot past Calgary goalie Trevor Kidd for a 3-1 lead. Douris got the puck behind the net, and while Kidd looked to his right, Douris sneaked around to his left and poked the puck into the net, finding a tiny opening between Kidd’s skate and the post at 16:05.

Calgary made the Ducks sweat it out when Wes Walz scored on a diving effort with 1:05 left in the game, but Joe Sacco scored an empty-netter after Kidd was pulled for an extra attacker to seal the victory.

The Ducks have decided scoring first is one of the keys to win, and they got a quick first goal against the Flames, just as they did when they beat the Kings Sunday.

The game was barely a minute old when Todd Krygier cut across the neutral zone and beat Kidd with a shot from the top of the right circle for a 1-0 lead at 1:18.

Calgary’s Kelly Kisio tied the score at 7:40 of the first on a perfect pass from Alan May, usually known more for fighting than anything else. May was behind the goal line to the left of the net when he threw the puck through the crease to Kisio as he cut in from the right, putting it in behind Guy Hebert’s back.

The shots stayed close, but the Ducks had by far the better chances. Paul Kariya got a pass in front of the net from Randy Ladouceur early in the first, but Kidd smothered the shot. Mike Sillinger hit the post in the second.

But for all their opportunities, the Ducks led by only 2-1 going into the third period. Bob Corkum scored the go-ahead goal at 6:26 after rookie Oleg Tverdovsky stickhandled through the neutral zone and passed to Garry Valk, who fed Corkum for the shot.

Corkum struggled early this season after leading the Ducks with 23 goals last season. But he has recovered his physical defensive game and his scoring touch recently. He has seven goals this season--five in the last eight games.

Duck Notes

The Kings’ Marty McSorley won’t face an NHL suspension for elbowing Duck Bobby Dollas in the head with 23 seconds left in the Ducks’ 5-1 victory Sunday.