No One Loses in Game of Bruises

By ELLIOTT TEAFORD

March 16, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The hitting was ferocious along the boards and in open ice. The goaltending was superb from start to finish. The scoring chances were a bit one-sided, but the goals were dead even after 65 minutes of frantic, playoff-like hockey Wednesday at the Arrowhead Pond.

Even the crowd was good for a change. A sellout of 17,174 watched the speedy Mighty Ducks wheel and deal, but fail to shed the patient, persistent Kings in a 2-2 tie.

So, which team is going to the Stanley Cup playoffs? And which one is probably going fishing? It certainly was difficult to tell the ninth-place Ducks from the fifth-place Kings.

By game’s end, there were perhaps only two significant differences. First, the Ducks outshot the Kings, 39-22. Second, the Kings were forced to play the final 20:59 without right wing Ziggy Palffy.

Palffy suffered a sprained right shoulder after he was checked hard into the end boards by Duck defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski 4:01 into the third period.

Palffy, in obvious pain, skated directly to dressing room. He will be evaluated further today, a team official said.

“I thought it was a fair hit,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “I’m glad we didn’t retaliate.”

The Kings certainly kept their poise in the frantic final minutes of the third period and during the five-minute overtime session. The Ducks failed to capitalize on power play in overtime after King defenseman Sean O’Donnell hooked Ladislav Kohn to the ice.

“Their goaltender was good all night,” Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg said of Jamie Storr. “We missed the net a couple of times there on the [overtime] power play.”

The teams each picked up a valuable point. The Ducks, who are 0-2-2 in their last four, are six points behind the eighth-place San Jose Sharks in the fight for the final Western Conference playoff spot. The Kings, 3-0-1 in their last four, moved two points ahead of the sixth-place Phoenix Coyotes, who rallied from a 5-3 deficit for a 6-5 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday.

Out of the playoffs and running out of time, the Ducks needed a win, and perhaps a loss Wednesday by the Sharks.But the Ducks settled for a tie that sets up a must-win game Friday against the Sharks at the Pond.

Wednesday’s game also was one the Ducks desperately needed, which might explain why goalie Guy Hebert returned to the net after sitting out Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Denver. Hebert was knocked woozy and had to leave a 1-1 tie against the St. Louis Blues when Kariya crashed into him midway through overtime.

Hebert was sharp from the start, giving up only two goals by King center Bryan Smolinski. Storr was sharper, giving up only power-play goals by center Steve Rucchin and defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky in the first period.

“We played well for 65 minutes, said Hartsburg. “We played our hearts out.”

Said Tverdovsky of the tie: “Considering we played for a second night in a row, we really battled through it. There are a lot of character guys in this room.”

Speaking of character guys, Kelly Buchberger and Nelson Emerson made their King debuts after Monday’s trade with the Atlanta Thrashers. Ed Ward, who gave Buchberger and Emerson a ride to the airport Tuesday, played his first game for the Ducks.

Buchberger and Emerson had joked with Ward on the way to the airport, telling him he ought to hang out with them until Tuesday’s noon (PST) trade deadline passed.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

KINGS vs. DUCKS

HEAD TO HEAD

IN 1999-2000

RESULTS

Dec. 3 Tie, 1-1

Feb. 8 Ducks, 5-3

Wednesday Tie, 2-2

UPCOMING

Tuesday at Staples Center

April 1 at Staples Center

April 9 At Arrowhead Pond