Kings Finally Get a Bead on Ducks

By ELLIOTT TEAFORD

April 2, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The Kings had nothing after 20 minutes against the Mighty Ducks Saturday at Staples Center. No goals. No shots. No life. No clue.

But a funny thing happened on the way to another dreary loss to the Ducks. The Kings converted a second-period scoring chance into the tying goal and a third-period opportunity into the winner.

A 2-1 victory before a sellout crowd of 18,118 vaulted the Kings into the Stanley Cup playoffs, only their second postseason appearance since their remarkable 1992-93 run to the finals.

The Kings have all but clinched fifth place and probably will play the fourth-place Detroit Red Wings in the first round, which begins April 12 or 13.

Some reward.

At game’s end, however, goalie Stephane Fiset raised his arms in triumph, looking for all the world like a champion instead of a mere playoff qualifier.

“It’s winning a playoff spot, that’s for sure,” Fiset said after surviving a first-period onslaught that could have been far worse for the Kings than a 1-0 deficit.

Despite the loss, the Ducks lived to play another day. But their playoff chances took a significant hit.

With only four games left, the Ducks are in ninth place in the Western Conference, three points behind eighth-place San Jose, which lost at Calgary, 3-0, and six points behind the seventh-place Edmonton Oilers, who won at home in overtime against the sixth-place Phoenix Coyotes, 4-3.

The Ducks, 8-2-2 in their last 12 games against the Kings, were in no mood to ponder “what ifs” Saturday, but certainly there were plenty of them.

“We didn’t bury them when we had the opportunity,” left wing Paul Kariya said, referring to the Ducks’ 1-0 lead and 11-0 advantage in shots in the first period. “I don’t think we had enough desperation in that area. We could have put them away.”

“Coulda, woulda, shoulda” has been the Ducks’ unofficial motto this season.

After surrendering a first-period goal to Teemu Selanne in the slot, and giving up several other quality chances, the Kings regrouped in the second.

But it happened only after Coach Andy Murray called a timeout 3:27 into the period and read the Kings the riot act.

“We talked about what we needed to do during the break between the first and second periods, but we came out and the second period was going exactly the same way as the first,” Murray said. “You can wait and take your timeout at the end of the game, but I didn’t want to wait. I called [out] a few guys’ names. I said, ‘This is where you step up. This is where you have to play.’ ”

It took Glen Murray finding Kelly Buchberger slicing toward Guy Hebert’s net and passing him the puck before the Kings finally found some offense, however. Hebert managed to deflect Buchberger’s one-timer, but the puck trickled into the back of the net at 4:29.

One shot (to 13 for the Ducks), and one goal. Nice shooting percentage.

The Kings then played the Ducks better than even the rest of the way, holding a 17-13 edge in shots. The Kings also began to win small battles along the boards, in front of the net and in the faceoff circle.

Winning a third-period faceoff set up the go-ahead goal with 12 minutes remaining.

Ian Laperriere won a draw cleanly from Duck center Matt Cullen in the attacking end. The puck went to defenseman Aki Berg at the right point. Berg slipped a pass to Jaroslav Modry at the left point. Modry’s ensuing shot wasn’t hard enough to break a pane of glass.

Hebert denied Luc Robitaille on a rebound try, but wasn’t quick enough to stop Laperriere’s tap-in.

“[Cullen] got beat back to the net after he lost the faceoff,” Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “When you lose faceoffs cleanly in your end of the ice, you usually give up a scoring chance.”

Laperriere was one of two King centers on the ice at the time, joining Bryan Smolinski. Mark Hardy, a King assistant, suggested the move in the hope that the energetic Laperriere would spark the line.

“When you don’t play that much, you just want to do something good when you’re out there,” Laperriere said. “The rebound was right there.”

Laperriere couldn’t have missed the net if he tried.

HELENE ELLIOTT: King assistant coach Mark Hardy had a gut feeling Ian Laperriere might prove valuable. Page 10

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

WEST CONFERENCE PLAYOFF RACE

Top eight teams qualify for playoffs. Division winners earn top three seeds. x-clinched playoff spot. y--clinched division. (G=Games left):

No. Team Pts G

1. x-St. Louis 109 4

2. xy-Dallas 99 5

3. x-Colorado 88 4

4. x-Detroit 106 3

5. x-Kings 89 4