GARON, KINGS DON'T GET ANY BREAKS AGAINST DUCKS GOALIE UNABLE TO HOLD ANAHEIM, WHICH TAKES 4-2 LEAD IN THIRD PERIOD AT THE POND.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - The concept of rest means little to hot goalies and teams in desperate situations.

In normal circumstances, the Kings might have rested goalie Mathieu Garon on Tuesday, but with Garon coming off consecutive shutouts and the Kings fighting for their playoff lives, Garon returned to the net.

The Kings had a chance to climb back into eighth place in the Western Conference, so Garon started for a second consecutive night on Tuesday. The Mighty Ducks didn't take it easy on Garon and held a 4-2 lead over the Kings in the third period in front of 17,174 at the Pond.

Garon stopped 26 of 28 shots through two periods, but Teemu Selanne scored a goal, his second of the game, 4:05 into the third period on the power play to break a 2-2 tie. Samuel Pahlsson scored seven minutes later to give the Ducks a two-goal lead.

For much of the Ducks' 12-season existence, the Southern California rivalry has been tepid at best, but with both teams battling for a playoff spot in April, the intensity arguably has never been greater.

The Kings had a chance to leapfrog over Vancouver and San Jose and move into eighth place, but the Sharks retain three games in hand. The Ducks are playing from a position of strength, however, and given their strong play of late, they have a good chance of earning home-ice advantage in the first round.

It won't be an easy stretch run for either team, and Kings interim coach John Torchetti made one concession when he canceled the customary game-day morning skate in El Segundo.

That gave Garon, who entered with a goalless streak of 146 minutes, 50 seconds, a chance to sleep in before his fourth game in six days. Torchetti said there was never a question about Garon's availability.

"It never entered my mind," Torchetti said. "He came up and told me he wanted (to play). What am I going to do, tell him no? When a goalie tells you he wants to play, you play him."

The Ducks didn't make it easy on Garon. They had totaled 20 goals in five previous games against Garon this season and had a handful of quality scoring chances early, but the Kings struck first.

Sean Avery controlled the puck on the right boards and fed a perfect cross-ice pass to Tim Gleason, who skated through the slot and ripped a one timer past Jean-Sebastien Giguere 6:35 into the first period.

Just more than three minutes later, the Ducks' Teemu Selanne drew a hooking penalty by Jeremy Roenick, and a minute later, Selanne also made it count when he tied the game.

The Ducks won a faceoff in their own zone and Andy McDonald fed a pass to Selanne, who picked up the puck in the neutral zone, outskated Kings defenseman Brent Sopel for a breakaway and slipped the puck past Garon to make it a 1-1 game 10:30 into the first period.

Just 33 seconds later, however, the Kings had the lead again.

Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin tried to clear the puck of the corner in the Ducks' zone, but instead put it on the stick of Craig Conroy alone in front, and Conroy scored easily for a 2-1 lead.

Garon and the Kings made that lead stand up in the first period, despite being outshot 15-8. It was the first time since Feb. 12 that the Kings scored more than one goal in a first period.

The good times wouldn't last though. With 29 seconds left in the first period, Selanne drew another penalty, on Eric Belanger for holding, and 1:24 into the second period, the Ducks tied the game.

After a scramble in front of the Kings' net, and with Garon flat on his stomach, Joffrey Lupul reached behind the goal line, pulled the puck in front and tucked it into the net before falling on Garon.

That's not all that fell on Garon. In the second period, he was the single reason the Ducks didn't take a two- or three-goal lead, as he made a series of point-blank saves and deflections.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Kings' Craig Conroy, left, shoots and scores past Mighty Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere during the first period of Tuesday's game.

(2) Los Angeles Kings' Alexander Frolov, of Russia, top, pushes Anaheim Mighty Ducks' Teemu Selanne, of Finland, to the ice while trying to get the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., on Tuesday, April 4, 2006.

Francis Specker/Associated Press