Ducks Regain Pride, 2-2

Wayne Gretzky knew what to expect Sunday afternoon from the Mighty Ducks. So did King Coach Larry Robinson, and so did goaltender Kelly Hrudey--and he needed to be more ready than anybody.

Four days after the Kings humiliated the Ducks by beating them by six goals at the Forum, they met again Sunday in front of 17,174 at The Pond of Anaheim.

“You know they’re going to play great,” said Hrudey, who made 39 saves to help the Kings earn a 2-2 tie and saved them from defeat in overtime by tipping away a shot by Paul Kariya with the toe of his left skate.

“We’ve all been through that in the past,” Hrudey said. “You know that if they played bad, the next time they’re going to play great. We’re all professionals and we’ve all got pride. I really expected them to play well--and they did.”

Guy Hebert, the Ducks’ goalie, nearly matched Hrudey’s performance, making 34 saves. The Ducks were determined not to be belittled the way they were in a 7-1 loss Wednesday.

“It was embarrassing,” said Hebert, who gave up four goals in relief in that game.

Sunday’s tie ended the Kings’ eight-game road losing streak, but extended their winless streak on the road to nine games.

“I suppose a point is good on the road,” Robinson said. “[But] I think to a man I don’t know if we’re overly satisfied with a point at this juncture, especially coming off the big win against them.

“They certainly showed a lot more character and determination and played a lot more physically then they did the other night in L.A.”

Duck Coach Ron Wilson, whose team hasn’t lost in the two games since the 7-1 loss, said, “We’ll take a point, I’ll tell you that.

“The last two games, we’ve battled hard and played with far more determination and grit.”

The Kings had to come from behind twice to tie, falling behind, 1-0, 1:22 into the game after Hrudey lost his stick when he left the net and fanned on an attempt to clear the puck. Duck defenseman David Karpa then beat Hrudey from the blue line with a shot that went in on Hrudey’s stick side as he flailed his blocker at it, though he was screened and scrambling to get back in position and said he might not have made the save even with his stick.

“I’ve given up a goal on the first shot on net before, but not that way,” said Hrudey, who went on to criticize his puck-handling the last several games. “That was a poor play. It shouldn’t have happened. . . . I’m a lot better at that usually. I’ve got to get in practice and work on it. It just went in. That happens. There were still 58 minutes to play.”

Hebert has recovered from his recent slump and made some outstanding saves to keep the Ducks ahead going into the third period.

But the Kings’ first goal came when Hebert tried to poke a loose puck away and ended up putting it on Kevin Todd’s stick. Todd beat him from point-blank range to tie the score, 1-1, two minutes into the third.

Less than a minute later, the Ducks led again after Joe Sacco flipped the puck high off the right post into the net after skating around defenseman John Slaney, who was making his debut after being acquired from Colorado last week.

The Kings came back once more, though, when Dimitri Khristich took a pass from Todd off his skate and sent the puck over to Rick Tocchet at the corner of the net. Tocchet’s goal, his 13th, tied the score, 2-2, at 7:43.

Hebert didn’t have to make a save in overtime, but Hrudey made three, stopping Sacco on a wraparound attempt a minute in, and later kicking away Kariya’s ninth and final shot of the game, a close-range attempt on a rebound.

“I knew I was supposed to get it high, I just missed the shot,” said Kariya, who also was stopped by Hrudey on a breakaway in the second period. “He made a good save, going from one post to the other and getting it off his toe.”

The Kings salvaged a tie, but the Ducks salvaged their pride.

“Maybe it was for the best,” Kariya said. “If we had lost, 4-2, [Wednesday] or it was a close game, maybe we would have kept sliding. When you get blown out, sometimes it’s a good omen.”

Duck and King Notes

Injured centers Steve Rucchin and Shaun Van Allen are expected to be ready to return for the Ducks’ next game Friday at Calgary. . . . After Wayne Gretzky and Duck enforcer Todd Ewen jawed at each other at the end of the second, Ewen quipped, “I told him I wanted to look into buying one of those camcorders he’s always selling.” . . . King defensemen Aki Berg and Rob Cowie were healthy scratches, as was Duck defenseman Milos Holan.