Ducks Think Inside the Box

There were tight lips in the Mighty Duck dressing room Sunday when the subject of penalties was brought up after the Kings’ 5-1 victory.

The Kings had nine power plays, the Ducks three.

Everyone tap-danced around the discrepancy. Finally, Duck defenseman Russian Salei said, “It doesn’t matter what I think. They decided to call penalties. In my opinion, it seemed only one team was playing today.”

The Ducks spent 9 minutes 37 seconds killing penalties in the first period. They spent 16:19 killing penalties through two periods. The nine power plays were the most they had to face this season.

Yet, no one was ready to point fingers at the officiating.

“It is pretty hard to imagine [that many penalties],” center Sergei Fedorov said. “I think our penalties were clutching and grabbing and maybe hooking. I guess if you don’t move your feet, you get penalized more.”

The Kings cashed in once, when Luc Robitaille scored their only power-play goal. *

Instead of wearing suits and watching from afar in the press box, Lubomir Visnovsky and Scott Barney traded their recent game routine for something more meaningful.

Ice time.

Visnovsky and Barney had sat out a combined 30 games before playing Sunday.

Visnovsky, the Kings’ highest-scoring defenseman before he sustained a pinched nerve in his neck and shoulder area, was paired with Jaroslav Modry and had 24:49 of ice time. Visnovsky replaced rookie Tim Gleason in the lineup after sitting out 17 games.

Barney had scored 10 points in 14 games before sustaining a separated shoulder Feb. 13 against the Buffalo Sabres. He played on the Kings’ fourth line Sunday with Esa Pirnes and Jeff Cowan.

“Our line tried to work hard and bring some energy to the team,” Barney said. “My shoulder’s going to get better and better every game. I’ve got to play through some pain right now.”

*

King center Eric Belanger did not play because he had flu-like symptoms, creating some last-minute shuffling on the checking line. Anson Carter was moved down from the second line to play with Ian Laperriere and Sean Avery.