[0] AUDETTE LIFTS KINGS' SPIRITS : KINGS 3 CHICAGO 2.

Byline: Roger Phillips

It wasn't a work of art, or even a very good hockey game, but it was something tangible for the Kings to hold and savor, a victory at a point in the season when they absolutely had to have one.

``At this point, we'll take any win: ugly, a great win, whatever,'' Kings coach Larry Robinson said Thursday night following a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks before a Forum crowd of 11,737. ``Any win's a great win now, ugly or indifferent.''

The outcome was in doubt all the way, and the Kings didn't seal the victory until Donald Audette scored with 9:39 to play, off a pass from Steve Duchesne after a turnover by Chicago defenseman Chris Chelios. Duchesne intercepted a clearing pass by Chelios at the blue line and passed the puck down low to Audette, whose second goal of the game was a backhander over prone Blackhawks goalie Jocelyn Thibault.

``I just waited,'' said Duchesne, who had a goal and two assists, a positive performance for him in a season filled with negatives. ``I know Chelly likes go in the middle sometimes. He made me a good pass.''

After the Kings ended a stretch of six losses in seven games, Audette said: ``You've got to forget what you did in the past. There's nothing you can do about it anymore. Sure, it hurt us when we lost. We've got to look at the future. We can't control what's been done. We've got to control what we can do.''

With 32 games remaining, the Kings (18-28-4) moved to within four points of San Jose in the race for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference. The Kings can creep closer to the Sharks with a victory in Saturday night's game against San Jose at the Forum. The Blackhawks (14-29-8), who are last in the Western Conference, have lost four consecutive games.

The night didn't begin nearly as well for the Kings as it ended. Chicago opened the scoring on a power play 8:34 into the game, a goal that was the result of an atrocious decision with the puck by Russ Courtnall.

The Kings' winger, a penalty-killing specialist, had the puck in the neutral zone, with plenty of time to shoot it down the ice.

Instead, he opted to do a Jaromir Jagr imitation, stick-handling and trying to pass the puck to himself between the legs of Chicago's Chad Kilger. The pass did go between Kilger's legs, but it also went back into the Kings' zone. Before Courtnall could reach the puck, the Blackhawks' Todd White beat him to it, and passed it across the ice to Kilger, now in the right faceoff circle. Kilger blasted a one-time shot past defenseless Kings goalie Stephane Fiset.

``I should have just fired it down the ice,'' said Courtnall, who was briefly benched by Robinson after the play. ``It's frustrating. I take pride in my penalty killing and I screwed up. I'm glad it didn't cost us the game.''

On the positive side, the Kings didn't crumble, as they have so many times this season after making costly mistakes.

Seven minutes after Courtnall's blunder, Duchesne tied the score when his shot from the right circle deflected off the stick of Blackhawks defenseman Bryan Muir and past Thibault.

Audette and Kilger then traded second-period goals, setting the stage for Audette's third-period game-winner.

``We've got to win,'' Audette said. ``There are no excuses anymore. Every shift we go on the ice is important.''

Robinson said: ``Overall, we've got to be pleased. We still did a lot of things wrong. But we want to focus on the positive. There's been enough negative this year to last a lifetime.''

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Photo

Photo: A shot by the Kings' Ray Ferraro is stopped by Blackhawks goalie Jocelyn Thibault during the first period at the Forum.

Victoria Arocho/Associated Press