ANOTHER NICE DAY AT POND FOR DUCKS KINGS' PLAYOFF HUNT HITS ROCKY GROUND IN BIG LOSS IN ANAHEIM DUCKS 6, KINGS 3.

Byline: Brice Nixon Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - If the Mighty Ducks could only make a deal with the NHL to play the rest of their games at home, they might have a shot at making the playoffs.

The Ducks have one victory in their past eight games on the road and only three teams have fewer than their seven road victories. Even Saturday's trip to Staples Center in Los Angeles proved too much for the Ducks.

On Sunday, though, the Ducks were at home, and their high-scoring forwards lived up to the description in a 6-3 victory over the Kings in front of a sellout crowd of 17,174 on Sunday at the Pond. It was the Ducks' first win against the Kings this season.

The loss hurt the Kings more than the win helped the Ducks. The Kings could have moved into sixth-place in the Western Conference but instead gave Calgary an opportunity to drop the Kings into the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference. The Ducks moved within seven points of the Flames, who were eighth with 70 points before playing Phoenix on Sunday.

``They played more desperate than us,'' Kings forward Luc Robitaille said. ``If we beat them today, their season would be over. They played that way.''

The Kings, one of five teams battling for the last four playoff spots, were desperate to salvage at least a point out of the game. They played with an empty net for most of the final eight minutes. But the Ducks held on in a fight-filled game.

``Every point is so precious,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said, ``to go into the third period tied 3-3 and to lose, it is real disappointing.''

The Ducks' last regulation loss at home was Jan. 19. They are 16-7-6-4 at home and 7-19-3-4 on the road.

``You can't book all 82 (games) in your building. They just don't let it go that way,'' Ducks coach Mike Babcock said.

The Ducks' leading scorers, forwards Sergei Fedorov, Vaclav Prospal, Petr Sykora and Steve Rucchin, combined for nine points. They each had one point in the previous five games.

``The guys we're counting on showed up today,'' Rucchin said.

Fedorov scored his first two goals in six games. The Ducks are 12-5-2 when Fedorov scores a goal and 20-11-3-1 when he earns at least a point. He had one assist in the previous five games, and the Ducks were 1-2-1-1. Before that, Fedorov had 20 points in 13 games and the Ducks had crept back toward the playoff race.

Fedorov's second goal was the game-winner. The Ducks led 3-1 after the first period. The Kings tied it with two goals in the second period. Less then three minutes into the third period, Fedorov intercepted a pass in the slot and beat Kings' goaltender Cristobal Huet. Prospal and Rucchin scored to give the Ducks a 6-3 lead and send Huet to the bench. Huet had given up two goals in the previous three games and was 3-0-1 in the previous four games.

Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 41 of 44 shots and set the tone for the Ducks' physical play, which was missing in a 2-1 loss to the Kings on Saturday. After Kings forward Sean Avery, the NHL's leader in penalty minutes, cross-checked Giguere following a save, Giguere left his crease and went after Avery.

``I'm not going to accept that from a guy like him,'' Giguere said. ``He's a disturber out there and you have to stand up to those guys. I wasn't going to fight him or anything. But I was just going to make sure he knows that he can't do that to me.''

Fedorov gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal less than seven minutes into the game. He took a pass from Prospal, stopped above the right faceoff circle and unleashed a slap shot that beat Huet to the top-left corner.

Derek Armstrong tied it with 5:13 left in the period when he drove up the left side and slipped the puck past Giguere for his first goal in five games.

The Ducks then scored twice in the next 45 seconds for a 3-1 lead. Cam Severson, who was a healthy scratch the last three games, scored his second goal of the season and the second of his career. Petr Schastlivy scored his second goal in 10 games with the Ducks since a trade from Ottawa.

Brice Nixon, [phone]

brice.nixon(at)sgvn.com

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Photo:

The Kings' Ian Laperriere pushes Lance Ward to the ice during the Ducks' victory Sunday.

Chris Urso/Associated Press