Fists Fly at Forum as Kings Rout Ducks

The Kings and Mighty Ducks played one final exhibition at the Great Western Forum Monday night.

And what an exhibition it was.

For the record, the Kings defeated the Ducks, 8-1, before a roaring crowd of 12,559, who bid a fond farewell to the dingy old arena at the corner of Prairie and Manchester. The Kings move into the sparkling, $375-million Staples Center Oct. 20.

The Ducks didn’t seem particularly sentimental about Monday’s finale. Fact is, they didn’t seem to have many emotions for two periods, which helps to explain the lopsided score.

But there was more to it than the score. The Kings and Ducks combined for 175 penalty minutes, including 149 in the third period.

The Kings had the game well in hand by the final period, scoring six second-period goals.

When Duck winger Teemu Selanne was crashed heavily into the boards by King defenseman Aki Berg, a fellow Finn, things really got interesting.

As Selanne limped slowly toward the bench, the Ducks’ finally showed some life. The Ducks’ blood boiled, furious by what they perceived to be a cheap hit. Selanne needed several stitches to close a cut near his mouth, but was not seriously injured.

Enforcer Stu Grimson set the stage for the brawling that was to come by roughing up King winger Ziggy Palffy at the 5:43 mark.

Duck winger Ted Donato then fought Ian Laperriere at 6:59. Mike Leclerc of the Ducks fought Berg at 7:08. Duck heavyweight Jim McKenzie hammered away without mercy on King rookie Jason Podollan at 7:12.

Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg and King Coach Andy Murray then began jawing at each other while invading the photographer’s booth between the benches.

Once play began again, it took all of three seconds for King enforcer Steve McKenna to pound away at Duck defenseman Jason Marshall, prompting another exchange between the benches.

Selanne was given a game misconduct for whacking away at several Kings with his stick.

Meanwhile, several other fights broke out on the ice, with Duck center Matt Cullen trading punches with Len Barrie.

“We were upset and they were upset,” Hartsburg said. “It was probably a couple of things. It was us getting our. . . . kicked and Selanne getting hit.”

Murray didn’t believe Berg tried to injure Selanne and put the blame for the fighting on the Ducks for overreacting to Berg’s check.

“I just felt it was unnecessary for them to go after Palffy and Rob Blake and I think Craig misinterpreted what happened,” Murray said. “Aki was going to the corner and Selanne just fell. If anything, he was trying to hold him up. Craig misinterpreted that as us trying to go after their key players.

“Craig is a real competitor. They’ve got a great hockey team. I just didn’t feel it was necessary for them to do what they did.”

Said Hartsburg: “When you’re losing, 8-1, or whatever, I’d expect somebody to get mad. We just should have been a little madder at the start.”

The Kings led, 1-0, after one period.

But goals by Jaroslav Modry, Craig Johnson, Podollan, Donald Audette, Barrie and Audette (again) turned the game into a rout for the Kings.

King goalie Stephane Fiset’s shutout bid was ruined by defenseman Ruslan Salei’s goal with 3:42 left in the game.

The Kings are 3-1-1 in exhibition play and the Ducks are 2-2-1.

“It was unfortunate both teams weren’t involved in the hockey game or it might have good game,” Hartsburg said. “Maybe [the fights] will pull our guys together. After all the stuff happened, we played better and played with an edge. Maybe it’s the best thing for us--to get. . . . off.”