McSorley Helps Ducks Win It

If that was the Kings versus the Mighty Ducks Saturday night at the Forum, where was Wayne Gretzky and what was Teemu Selanne doing there?

And what on earth was Marty McSorley doing scoring for the Ducks in overtime, giving Anaheim a 2-1 victory over his own Kings? Paul Kariya’s desperation shot/pass with 53 seconds remaining in overtime went in off McSorley’s stick as he stood in front of his own net, giving the Ducks their first victory over the Kings this season. The goal was credited to Kariya, his 31st.

“It’s sad because the guys worked so hard,” McSorley said. “They gave it a great effort and Kelly [Hrudey] played great too. To lose on a bounce like that is really disappointing.

“It hit my stick kind of funny, it didn’t even hit it straight. Then it caught Kelly kind of funny. I was just looking to knock the pass down.”

Kariya said he was hoping to get the puck to Selanne.

“Teemu was wide open in front, I saw him, and I just threw it toward him,” Kariya said. “I didn’t even see it go in the net. It’s never a bad play to get it in front of the net.”

“It was just an accident,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “The funny thing was, I said when we started overtime, ‘It’s really bad ice, just dump it in, fire it in, don’t try be fancy. Dump in and hope for a lucky break.’ ”

Hrudey, who made 31 saves, said, “You can’t blame Marty. He gives it his all every game. Things like that happen.”

King Coach Larry Robinson, a former defenseman himself, understands that.

“I’m not blaming him for anything,” Robinson said. “I’ve probably done it 100 times, but I don’t know if it’s ever gone in.”

The exasperation showed just the same.

“It’s like there’s a black cloud over the top [of the Forum] somewhere,” Robinson said. “We haven’t got a break in the last month and a half.”

The changing face of hockey in Southern California is evidenced by nothing so much as the changing faces themselves, and Saturday’s game was a battle of unfamiliar lineups in familiar jerseys.

This time, Gretzky was missing only because of the right hip pointer that also kept him out of the previous game. The Kings say he’s close to returning and might play Monday against Boston, but one day soon, of course, he could be gone for good.

Selanne, acquired by the Ducks on Feb. 7, would be the heir apparent as Southern California’s biggest hockey star.

All the trade talk is about Gretzky, but the Kings made a deal Saturday that didn’t involve him, getting tough guy Shane Churla and defenseman Doug Zmolek from Dallas for defenseman Darryl Sydor and a draft pick. Both played against the Ducks, even provided some of the grit and determination Robinson so pointedly suggests has been missing.

The Kings took the early lead--very early--when Dimitri Khristich scored on a power play only 1:21 into the game after he found the puck low in the slot and put it over Mikhail Shtalenkov’s already outstretched leg.

After a dreadful display by the Ducks’ power play in the first period--failing to score with a two-man advantage for 3:10--it came through early in the third.

With the Kings’ Steve Larouche off for tripping, Fredrik Olausson spotted an open lane to the net and skated in from the point to take a pass from Selanne and beat Hrudey at 2:38 of the third, tying the score, 1-1.

Hrudey, starting his third consecutive game for the first time this season, stopped 31 shots. The Ducks’ Shtalenkov made 29, and saved himself with a poke check against Kevin Stevens on a breakaway in the final 30 seconds of regulation.

“This, although not as embarrassing, is harder than the Detroit game, losing, 9-4,” Hrudey said. “It’s harder to rebound from a game like this, when physically and emotionally, you’re that close, and just fell short.”

Duck-King Notes

King defenseman Steven Finn didn’t play after being hit in the eye by a puck during Friday’s practice and will probably sit out Monday’s game against Boston as well. Doctors are concerned about blood behind Finn’s left eye, which was swollen shut Saturday morning. He also required stitches to close skin wounds. . . . Defenseman Sean O’Donnell returned after sitting out eight games because of a sprained left wrist. . . . Defenseman Aki Berg was ill.