DUCKS' FORUM VISIT WON'T LACK INTENSITY.

Byline: Tim Trepany Daily News Staff Writer

It features two of the lesser teams in the Western Conference, but tonight's Kings-Mighty Ducks game at the Forum is one neither team will take lightly.

As evidenced by their last meeting, a 2-2 tie at the Forum on Jan. 25, a genuine feeling of rivalry is building between the neighboring teams.

That game featured 20 penalties, including four for roughing, two for fighting, one for boarding and one for charging. The latter came when Kings defenseman Sean O'Donnell came to the aid of Yanic Perreault and rushed across the ice to flatten Steve Rucchin.

``That's one thing they drill into you when you come here,'' Kings goalie Byron Dafoe said afterward. ``You always want to be ahead of the Ducks in the standings.''

Although the Ducks have never been to the playoffs in their four-year existence, staying ahead of them hasn't been easy for the Kings, who are on their way to completing a fourth straight season without qualifying for the postseason.

The Ducks are six points ahead of the Kings in the standings and are challenging for a playoff position. They trail Chicago and Vancouver by two points for the eighth and final Western Conference berth.

The Ducks' problem has been their failure to put together a win streak. They are 5-6-0 since the All-Star break and haven't won two games in a row since beating Ottawa and Florida on Dec. 30 and Jan. 1.

The main reason for that is a lack of scoring after Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, who have 34 and 27 goals respectively. Rucchin, who centers them, is next with 13. No other Duck has more than 10.

But oftentimes, Kariya and Selanne are enough. Kariya, who has 15 goals in his past 17 games, is third in the NHL with 1.42 points per game while Selanne is fifth at 1.29.

The Kings limited them to two shots each in the 2-2 tie, but two of three forwards coach Larry Robinson used against them won't be playing today.

Neal Broten was picked up on waivers by the Dallas Stars and Dimitri Khristich remains out after having laser surgery to repair a partially torn retina in his right eye.