Palffy Puts In Last Word for the Kings, 5-4

Whether or not the Kings and Mighty Ducks played textbook hockey Monday at the Arrowhead Pond was not open to debate. Each team made enough boneheaded plays to make an instructional videotape.

Call it, “How Not to Play Hockey 101.”

But that doesn’t mean the Kings’ 5-4 overtime victory on Ziggy Palffy’s power-play goal 1:04 into the extra period was deadly dull. Quite the opposite was true. The mistakes only enhanced the viewing and rooting pleasure for an announced crowd of 14,098.

The Kings and Ducks skated, passed and shot the puck in relentless fashion, occasionally abandoning any semblance of defense. They also added a dash of physical play from time to time and had the fans on their edge of their seats from start to finish.

Palffy blasted a one-timer from the right faceoff circle past Duck goaltender Guy Hebert after defenseman Niclas Havelid took a high sticking penalty against King captain Rob Blake 16 seconds into overtime.

“If you have a four-on-three, it’s a big possibility you’re going to score,” said Palffy, who scored his team-leading eighth goal. “But it’s not so easy. You have to know where every guy is standing and the pass has to be right on the tape.”

Defenseman Mathieu Schneider’s cross-ice pass skipped across the Pond’s chewed up ice, directly on Palffy’s stick blade. Palffy wound up and buried his shot into the back of the net.

“The pass was bouncing and I just decided to take the shot,” Palffy said.

Not taking it would probably have been the biggest mistake of the night. In the end, Palffy’s power-play goal, the Kings’ first in four games, overshadowed almost everything else Monday, including Marty McInnis’ second career three-goal game for the Ducks.

McInnis’ third goal, with only 3:20 left in regulation, enabled the Ducks to complete a rally from a 4-2 deficit to start the third period. He slammed home a loose puck from near the left goal post afterMike Leclerc took several jabs at it at the right post.

Leclerc got the Ducks within range with a quick shot past goalie Jamie Storr at the 9:26 mark of the third period, capping another scramble in front.

With Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne bottled up for most of the game, it was the sort of push from their second line the Ducks needed to rally. Neither Kariya nor Selanne recorded a point as the second line produced all the Ducks’ scoring.

At game’s end, Selanne complained of a headache, dizziness and blurred vision after Schneider cracked him in the back of the head with his stick, drawing an interference penalty midway through the first period.

Selanne’s status for Wednesday’s rematch at Staples Center was not immediately certain. Certainly, the Ducks won’t be nearly as competitive without Selanne. But Coach Craig Hartsburg couldn’t complain about the output of his second line.

“As the game wore on, they stayed persistent and got rewarded,” he said. “That line has to keep doing things like that. Obviously, that’s a real positive for our team to have more depth in our lineup.”

The Kings’ depth increased dramatically by the return of Blake, who scored the Kings’ first goal and assisted on Palffy’s winner after he was activated from injured reserve Monday morning. Blake missed three games because of a hairline fracture of a lumbar vertebrae.

Blake also took a shot in the mug from Havelid mere seconds into overtime, which set up Palffy’s goal.

For a few nervous moments, it looked as if Blake wouldn’t make it out of the dressing room for the third period plus overtime. After delivering a crunching check against Duck center Matt Cullen, he skating slowly to the bench in search of medical attention. His right arm dangled from his side.

The Kings held their breath after Blake lost his. Blake would miss only the final 1:44 of the second period.

“When the word came from the dressing room that he only had the wind knocked out of him, the entire bench let out a sigh of relief,” King Coach Andy Murray said.

Blake, Jozef Stumpel and Glen Murray scored first-period goals for the Kings, countering McInnis’ two goals for the Ducks. Rookie Tomas Vlasak then gave the Kings a 4-2 lead with his first NHL goal 9:19 into the second period.

The lead wouldn’t last.

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Boardroom Battles

All may seem quiet on the NHL’s labor front, but owners and players are already staking positions. D6

King-Sized

Activation

Rob Blake, even with a back injury, is activated and makes presence felt in first period.

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