Kings Get the Point in 2-2 Tie : Hockey: McSorley’s goal catches Ducks with :41 left in third period.

Two points in their last eight games and, yes, the Kings remain in the playoff race, locked in an eighth-place tie with San Jose and Winnipeg.

One county away, the Mighty Ducks are winless in their last three games and 0-6-1 in their last seven road games. And they too have playoff life, trailing by two points.

Is anyone having fun yet?

Nevertheless, hope exists for both Southland teams after a 2-2 tie between the Kings and Ducks at the Forum Sunday before an announced 16,005. Call it an equal-opportunity point.

“It’s a Catch-22,” Duck goaltender Guy Hebert said. “We’re happy to get the one point. If we lost, we’d be facing the wall.”

The Kings (13-21-9) were within 41 seconds of that when defenseman Marty McSorley tied it at 19:19 of the third period, converting a centering pass from Yanic Perreault, who was behind the net. Wayne Gretzky assisted on the goal, which came after goaltender Grant Fuhr was pulled for an extra attacker.

“You know Wayne is somehow going to get the puck to the front of the net,” said McSorley, who scored his third goal of the season. “I was crashing in on the play, just trying to create a disturbance in front.”

Until then, the Ducks (14-24-5) had been firmly in control, dominating the second and third periods. The Kings had little life until Rob Blake delivered a series of checks, breaking up several outnumbered attacks.

It was the second consecutive tie for the Kings under interim coach Rogie Vachon, who took over after Friday’s firing of Barry Melrose. “Tough to win a game around here,” Vachon said, smiling.

Duck Coach Ron Wilson said: “We definitely outplayed them for 59 minutes, but we’ll take the point. The point keeps us alive.”

Wilson took issue with some of Vachon’s previous comments about the Kings’ inability to handle teams like the Ducks.

“Why do they think like that?” he asked indignantly. “Three teams in our conference (Los Angeles, Winnipeg and Edmonton) have fired their coach for the very same reason. They can’t figure out how to beat us. The bottom line is that if they played as a team, they might be able to beat us.

“It’s simple. We work hard. If you play hard, you might be able to beat us.”

The Ducks have not lost to the Kings this season, going 2-0-2, and they are undefeated in their last six meetings, 4-0-2, dating to last season.

There are also increasing signs of a heated rivalry on the ice, mainly because of Duck defenseman Dave Karpa. In his team’s 5-1 victory over the Kings on April 9, Karpa irritated and unnerved Gretzky and McSorley. This time, he got Blake to crack 2:35 into overtime, shooting a puck at his knee. Earlier, Blake delivered a formidable body check, knocking Karpa down in the corner.

Blake and Karpa were given 10-minute misconduct penalties. “I probably should have waited,” Blake said. Vachon agreed but said Karpa should have received a match penalty for intent to injure.

It was a good tradeoff for the Ducks, considering the way Blake was playing. Not many of the Kings looked confident, and some seemed nervous after the Ducks tied the game, 1-1, with a shorthanded goal by Shaun Van Allen at 5:25 of the second period.

Less than three minutes later, the Ducks went up, 2-1, on Patrik Carnback’s goal from the left crease at 8:23 as King defenseman Denis Tsygurov futilely flailed with his stick.

“After the shorthanded goal, you could see the bench way down,” Vachon said. ‘They don’t take adversity well. Our confidence level is not very high right now. It’s very fragile”

Now, there are five games left to put the Kings together again.

King Notes

Before the game, team president and interim coach Rogie Vachon presented Wayne Gretzky with a silver platter in honor of Gretzky’s 2,500th career point, an assist a week ago in Calgary.