Anaheim Mighty Ducks/Los Angeles Kings NHL recap on ESPN

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Tuesday, Mar. 21 10:30pm ET
Ducks making case for postseason

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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim didn't spend much time savoring their victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

"We haven't really cleared any hurdles yet," Anaheim's Kip Miller said Tuesday night after he had a goal and two assists in a 5-2 win over Los Angeles.

The victory moved the Mighty Ducks into a tie with San Jose for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

"Until we've got a good lead on somebody, we have to keep playing with the sense of urgency we have the last two weeks. We've got some tough games coming up," Miller said.

His coach, Craig Hartsburg, complimented Miller's play.

"He has been doing a good job for us. He's a smart player, gets good position," Hartsburg said.

Anaheim has 76 points, the same as San Jose, which was idle. The Kings are in fifth place with 81 points.

The Kings never led, but closed to 3-2 on Nelson Emerson's 15th goal -- and first with the Kings -- at 11:27 of the final period. Glen Murray, who scored the Kings' first goal, fed Emerson a perfect pass across the crease for their second.

"I thought we were right back in the game after that (second) goal," Emerson said. "But they showed some composure by getting a quick one back on us."

Miller gave Anaheim a 3-1 pad 8:06 into the third period with his ninth goal, then Anaheim's Ladislav Kohn and Paul Kariya scored to put the game away.

Matt Cullen set up Miller's goal with a fine effort, punching the puck in front of him into the Kings' end, then, as he went sprawling, sweeping the puck to Miller. His 25-foot slap shot sailed past goaltender Jamie Storr.

But Kohn quickly restored Anaheim's two-goal lead. He scored after a scramble in front of the net with 8:19 remaining for his fifth goal. Kariya added his 37th, skating into the crease with Gary Galley hanging on him and beating Storr high to the glove side. After falling behind 2-0, the Kings scored with 4:39 remaining in the second period, with Murray getting his first goal in eight games. With Anaheim defenseman Ruslan Salei right on him, Murray poked the puck between Guy Hebert's pads for his 13th goal.

Antti Aalto gave Anaheim a 2-0 lead with his sixth goal of the season, knocking in a rebound with 3:15 left in the opening period.

Mike Leclerc began the sequence that led to the score, pinching at the left side and intercepting defenseman Aki Berg's clearing pass from behind the net. Leclerc quickly fed Miller in the slot, and Miller fired a shot that Storr blocked.

But the puck dribbled off to the goalie's right, and Aalto was there to flip it past the sprawling goalie.

Ted Donato opened the scoring 7:55 into the game with his 11th goal, just seconds after Ducks defenseman Niclas Havelid got away with hooking Los Angeles defenseman Sean O'Donnell.

Donato fired the puck into the crease from near the goal line on the right side. The puck caromed off the skate of O'Donnell -- who had just gotten up off the ice and scrambled to get to the crease -- and into the net as the Kings protested to referee Paul Stewart about Donato not being called for the foul.

The Mighty Ducks are now 8-1-2 in their last 11 meetings with Los Angeles.

The Kings were missing Ziggy Palffy, tied with Luc Robitaille as their leading scorer. Palffy was sidelined by a right shoulder strain suffered in the Kings' 2-2 tie with the Mighty Ducks on March 15.

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