KINGS' CORVO DOESN'T MISS HIS SHOT AT REDEMPTION GETS WINNER IN 5TH ROUND OF SHOOTOUT TO BEAT DUCKS KINGS 3, DUCKS 2.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

Several of the Kings said that this week had the feeling of a playoff series, since the Kings and Mighty Ducks play three times in an eight-day span of what should be some intense, important hockey.

And, much like in the playoffs, the Staples Center fans were on their feet for the conclusion of Monday night's game, as they watched Joe Corvo earn a little redemption and give the Kings a victory.

Corvo scored in the fifth round of the shootout after some deft stickhandling in front of the net as the Kings rallied to beat the Ducks 3-2 in front of 18,118 at Staples Center.

The winning goal came less than 48 hours after Corvo committed a defensive-zone gaffe late in the third period that led to San Jose's tying goal. The Sharks went on to win in overtime.

``It feels good,'' Corvo said. ``I think all together this was just a better-feeling game for me. It's a little bit of redemption, because I was on the ice for that goal, but we get another crack at (San Jose today).

``That will be the real redemption.''

But for the time being, Corvo was happy with the winner.

Twice earlier in the shootout, the Kings had been within one goal or one save of a victory, but after Ducks rookie Ryan Getzlaf hit the post, Corvo came straight at Jean-Sebastien Giguere, flicked the puck back and forth several times and then flipped a shot into the net.

``I don't know until I get there, right before I get there, what I'm going to do,'' Corvo said. ``If I start thinking about it, the puck is going to end up in the corner. I'm not even going to get a shot on net.''

Corvo scored on a penalty shot in regulation on Nov. 28 against Detroit, and his goal capped a nice comeback for the Kings, who trailed for most of the game against the hard-skating Ducks.

With 8:22 left in the third period and the Kings trailing 2-1, Lubomir Visnovksy made a skilled play to get the puck to Derek Armstrong, who took it up the right side of the Anaheim zone.

Luc Robitaille charged to the front of the net just in time to take a centering pass from Armstrong and tip it past Giguere to tie the score.

``I thought if I got to the net, he would find me,'' Robitaille said. ``I just gave him a yell and he put it right on my stick. I was excited because it was a big goal.''

It was also a big night for the goalies. The Kings' Mathieu Garon removed the sting of a few recent poor performances as he stopped 33 of 35 shots, and Giguere continued his strong play by stopping 32 of 34. The Ducks wasted the effort of Francois Beauchemin, who scored both of their goals.

``(The Kings) worked hard. They never stopped working,'' Giguere said. ``You have to give them credit for that. I think we have to be satisfied with the way we played tonight.''

Special teams proved to be an enigma for the Kings. They tied the score 1-1 early in the second period on Alexander Frolov's shorthanded goal, but went 0 for 9 on the power play, including an excellent chance when Scott Niedermayer took a holding penalty in overtime.

``This wasn't a case of not playing well or not playing hard enough,'' Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. ``We made a couple mistakes defensively. We can't gave up a short-handed goal like we did tonight.

``It's a game of mistakes. If every team played a game mistake-free, it would be nothing-nothing.''

The Kings trailed 1-0 after the first period and seemed in trouble early in the second when Craig Conroy took a double-minor penalty for high sticking, but the Kings pulled the surprise.

Frolov intercepted a pass in the Kings' zone and fed a pass to Michael Cammalleri, who skated up the right side. Cammalleri cut in front and put a shot on net. Giguere made the save, but Frolov came in and knocked in the rebound before Giguere could slide over to make the save.

It was a nice return for Frolov, who missed the previous three games with flu.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Kings' Nathan Dempsey attempts to block a pass from the Mighty Ducks' Jonathan Hedstrom during Monday's game at Staples Center.

(2) The Kings' Sean Avery tries flipping the puck past Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf during Monday's game.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer