Dismal Loss Forces Ducks to Examine Tale of the Tape

Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg summoned his players to their Anaheim practice facility for an 8 a.m. videotape session Thursday. No workout. No skating. Only videos and meetings for the next four hours or so.

Hartsburg hopes it helps snap the Ducks back to life after a dreary 4-2 loss Wednesday to the Tampa Bay Lightning that ended the team’s fifth two-game winning streak.

“We’re not where we want to be,” Hartsburg said. “We’ve got to find some answers. Obviously, there’s concern on everybody’s part. We’ll fix it together. We’ll find some answers.”

The Ducks’ biggest shortcoming is failing to show up for games against inferior opponents such as the Lightning and Montreal Canadiens.

“It’s a mental thing,” captain Paul Kariya said. “We don’t prepare well for teams below us in the standings. That’s a mental thing. . . . Over the course of a game, we work hard for five minutes, then we float for five minutes. It’s not physical. It’s all mental.”

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The Ducks said they are more concerned about themselves than about facing a bitter rival such as the Kings tonight at the Arrowhead Pond.

“It doesn’t matter who we play,” Kariya said. “We’ve got things we’ve got to straighten out.”

Added Hartsburg, “Right now, we’ve got enough on our plate to worry about besides a rivalry.”

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The Ducks recalled defenseman Dan Trebil from Cincinnati of the American Hockey League and put defenseman Kevin Haller on the injured-reserve list. Trebil had five goals and 17 points in 18 games for Cincinnati. Haller has been sidelined since spraining his left knee Nov. 15. . . . The Ducks also put right wing Ladislav Kohn, who has a groin strain, on injured reserve.

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King officials say it’s simply a way to beat traffic on the San Diego Freeway, but the way they’re handling tonight’s game smacks of life on the road.

The Kings are skating this morning, then checking into an Anaheim hotel until it’s time to play tonight, a procedure that’s out of the ordinary for a neighborhood game.

“If we could have skated in [the still-to-be-completed practice facility] in El Segundo, we might have done that,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “But it doesn’t make sense to come up here [to Iceoplex in North Hills] in the morning and go down there for the game.”

Murray, known for seeking any edge, is also cognizant of the Kings’ record on the road, 8-3-2-1. At 19 points, it’s the best in the NHL.

Murray has not talked with Hartsburg since the Kings’ 8-1 exhibition victory over the Ducks in a Sept. 20 game that was dragged down by a series of fights.

On that night, Murray, then a head coach in the NHL for all of a handful of exhibitions, was photographed shaking his finger at Hartsburg, an NHL veteran, taking him to task and accusing him of failing to control the Ducks.

“I’ve thought about that, and mainly I’ve thought, ‘How stupid could I have been?’ ” Murray said. “If I had taken a swing at him. . . .”

As for a reprise, “We’ll stay away from that stuff,” Murray said. “We just want to play hockey.”

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Murray and the rest of the King coaches watched the Ducks play Tampa Bay.

The Kings play the Lightning on Saturday night, but Murray pointedly did not pay attention to Tampa Bay. Nor, he said, would he watch the Lightning play at Phoenix on Thursday.

Assistant Ray Bennett was assigned to both tasks.

“It’s a ritual,” Murray said of refusing to watch any opponent other than the next one. “It’s part of preparation. I don’t call it superstition.”

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King goalie Stephane Fiset, who has been sidelined since Nov. 9 because of a bruised right hand, has been fitted with a special brace. His hand still is not responding to treatment, and he will skate this morning with Jozef Stumpel, who is on the mend from a hernia.

TONIGHT

Kings at Ducks

7:30, Fox Sports Net 2

* Site--Arrowhead Pond.

* Radio--XTRA (690), KRLA (1110).

* Records--Ducks 12-12-2-1, Kings 14-7-4-1.

* Season series (1998-99)--Ducks, 5-1.

* Update--The Ducks lead the series, 15-13-5, and are 9-4-3 against the Kings at the Pond. Goalie Guy Hebert is expected to start for the Ducks tonight. Dominic Roussel may get the call Saturday against the Phoenix Coyotes. Left wing Jim McKenzie is expected to play his first game for the Ducks since breaking his left hand Nov. 9 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Only a handful of tickets remain.

* Tickets--(714) 740-2000.