KINGS AND OILERS TIE AS BOTH LOSE GROUND : BOUCHER GETS KEY GOAL, FERRARO HIS 300TH KINGS 3, EDMONTON 3.

Byline: Associated Press 

The Edmonton Oilers are fighting for their NHL playoff lives, while the Kings are aiming for respectability, with an outside chance of earning a postseason berth.

The fifth and final meeting of the season between the Western Conference rivals settled little as the Kings and Oilers played to a 3-3 tie Wednesday night.

With seven games left, the Kings remained five points behind the Oilers, who slipped five points back of the Winnipeg Jets in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.

Defenseman Phillippe Boucher scored with 6:17 left in the third period to pull the Kings even in a fast-paced and at times highly physical encounter that ended with a blood-spitting incident.

``We just came off a long road trip and maybe the guys are a little tired,'' said Oilers defenseman Bryan Marchment about letting a two-goal lead slip away. ``But for the first game back, you can't be that upset getting one point. I thought we had control of the game, even though there was some breakdowns and letdowns in the third period.''

The game reached a boiling point in the third period when Los Angeles defenseman Sean O'Donnell smacked Edmonton winger Mariusz Czerkawski with a forearm smash. The Oilers' Jason Arnott chased after the King and they briefly fought.

As he was being taken the dressing room, Czerkawski and Ray Ferraro had words at the benches. During the scuffle, Czerkawski spit at Ferraro and sprayed his helmet with blood.

``He was obviously upset with the hit that he took,'' Ferraro said.

``Now is not the time to be spitting blood at anybody. I don't know what he does with his life. That's ridiculous . . . 3-year-olds spit at each other.''

Czerkawski said he was frustrated the Oilers let a victory slip away. He didn't see a replay of the hit he took, but his face sported the results.

``I said sorry to him, it was too bad,'' said Czerkawski, who suffered a broken nose and some broken teeth from O'Donnell's hit.

Ferraro and Edmonton's Todd Marchant exchanged first-period goals. For Ferraro, the goal was the 300th of his NHL career.

Czerkawski broke the tie in the second period with his 16th goal of the season, tipping a pass from Dean McAmmond past goaltender Byron Dafoe.

Zdeno Ciger's power-play goal put the Oilers up by two, but Vladimir Tsyplakov brought the Kings back with a quick snap shot past Curtis Joseph's glove.

The Oilers dominated the overtime period, but could not beat Dafoe.

``We came out strong in the overtime, but we were kind of flat all night long and we're happy we got our point,'' added Oilers captain Kelly Buchberger.