Ducks falter after turning it around

The Ducks’ crucial seven-game homestand -- their longest of the season -- ended with a 4-2-1 record on the heels of a winless four-game trip.

But after winning three games in a row, the Ducks have come up short at the end of the last two.

They lost to Phoenix in overtime Sunday, then fell to the Kings on Tuesday after giving up the game-winning goal with 2:20 left.

“It’s right there,” captain Scott Niedermayer said. “We let up just enough. The last two teams we’ve played had solid games. They played games that didn’t give up a lot and didn’t make many mistakes.”

The Ducks pulled even only to lose for the second game in a row, falling to the Kings, 4-3, on a late goal.

“You can’t count on coming back and winning the game in a shootout or in overtime,” Niedermayer said. “We were there and had that opportunity, but it didn’t go our way. We have to get back to playing the way we were prior to these last couple of games.”

They won’t see much of home the next two months: 21 of their next 30 are on the road.

Perry remains hot

With a goal and an assist, Ducks winger Corey Perry extended his franchise-record point streak to 19 games, the longest in the NHL in two years.

The last player to have a 19-game streak was Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, from Oct. 6-Nov. 17, 2007.

“His preparation for the tryouts, the evaluation for the Team Canada team, that gave him a head start to the season,” Coach Randy Carlyle said, referring to the process that has made Perry a strong candidate for the Olympic team.

Kings injuries

Kings winger Brandon Segal left the game with what was termed a lower-body injury and will be “out for a little bit,” Coach Terry Murray said.

Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi, who has missed seven games because of a lower-body injury, skated hard for the first time Tuesday and is close to returning.

Artyukhin replaced

Ducks winger Evgeny Artyukhin, who had drawn praise from Teemu Selanne for his play on the line centered by Saku Koivu, found himself replaced by Todd Marchant because he took three penalties in the offensive zone.

Carlyle didn’t say why explicitly, but he didn’t have to.

“Were you not at the game? You put your words to it,” he said.