Kings and Ducks Manage to Get Their Point Across

Two struggling teams.

One point each.

That was hardly the math the Mighty Ducks and Kings were working on throughout Wednesday’s 4-4 tie. But where you sat in the standings determined whether this was a sunny-side up evening.

Both teams are looking up at the San Jose Sharks in the Pacific Division. The Kings’ view just doesn’t require binoculars.

So even though they gave up three first-period goals, two by rookie Michael Holmqvist -- his first as an NHL player -- a tie seemed OK, even if it extended their winless streak to nine games.

“I’m not even thinking about that,” said King forward Luc Robitaille, who had two assists. “If we keep playing like that, we’ll put some wins together.”

Of course, Robitaille is perched a little higher in the division. The Ducks are at the bottom of that pile.

They had more turnover woes, squandered a 3-2 lead, then tied the score with 10 minutes 54 seconds left in the game when defenseman Todd Simpson chipped in his first goal in 84 games. Not that it made him happy.

“We can’t be happy with a tie,” said Simpson, who last scored on Dec. 13, 2002, when he was with the Phoenix Coyotes. “We need wins. We need to move up in the standings.”

The 17,174 at the Arrowhead Pond -- a sellout that seemed split equally between King and Duck fans -- saw an exciting game. Whether it was quality hockey was left to the beholder.

King goaltender Cristobal Huet twice had innocent looking shots hit him and flutter into the net. He gave up three goals on the Ducks’ first six shots.

That brought a quick hook from King Coach Andy Murray, who inserted Roman Cechmanek after the first period. Cechmanek was activated before the game. He had sat out six games since injuring a hip on Dec. 20.

“I certainly didn’t like a couple of the goals,” Murray said. “Just like anybody else, he’s accountable and responsible and he wasn’t getting the job done.”

More worrisome were the concerns that leading scorer Ziggy Palffy may be lost. He got tangled up with a Duck player in overtime and suffered an undisclosed upper body injury. He will be re-evaluated today.

The Ducks’ pain was more mental, but manageable.

They could point to the two assists $16.5-million free agent Vaclav Prospal, his second multi-point game of the season, and to the fact that they got a goal from a defenseman. The Ducks have a 7-1-2-1 record when a defenseman scores.

“We talked that we have to be more competitive and I think that showed tonight,” defenseman Keith Carney said. “We’re halfway through the season. We have to start believing in each other.”

That would be easier without the costly turnovers. The Ducks made two that led to King goals. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who had given up only 13 goals in his last seven games, gave up four, the last two on odd circumstances.

Brad Chartrand broke a 3-3 tie 7:32 into the third period but was provided the opportunity when Giguere and teammate Jason Krog had a moment of confusion.

Giguere made a save, but he and Krog both tried to clear the puck.

They only succeed in sliding it to Chartrand, who had a can’t-miss opportunity at the crease with an open net.

The Kings had tied the score late in the second period, when Jaroslav Modry fired from the blue line, hitting the post. The ricochet hit Giguere in the skate and Sean Avery simply guided the puck into the net at 18:22 of the second period.

All that was a little more palatable when Simpson chipped in a puck that teammate Andy McDonald left on the doorstep with a wrap-around try.

“It’s good to see that,” captain Steve Rucchin said. “We need anyone to score goals right now.”

The Ducks got three goals from $8.825 million of their payroll. Sergei Fedorov, who is making $8 million, had one. Holmqvist, the pocket change of that duo, had two.

That left the Ducks with a 3-2 lead after one period.

They couldn’t hold the lead. But, then, neither did the Kings