The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks have never been in the playoffs at the same time.

 

If that 17-year glitch finally gets resolved come April, it will have the subplot that the star players for both teams had drastically opposite endings to their regular season.

 

Ducks winger Corey Perry established himself as a legitimate Hart Trophy candidate last week by almost single-handedly keeping Anaheim in playoff position, while the Kings suffered a crushing blow when they lost center Anze Kopitar to a broken ankle.

 

Perry entered Monday with 13 goals over his past nine games and took over the NHL goal-scoring lead at 44 by scoring both goals in Anaheim’s victory against Chicago. He leads the league with 20 third-period goals, and 23 of his 44 have been score-tying or go-ahead goals.

 

So what gives?

 

Long known as an agitator, Perry has developed more into a pure goal-scorer with his soft hands and positioning down low. A common sight is Perry getting the puck near the side of the net and turning toward the goal with his back to the defender like a power forward in basketball.

 

Almost all of his goals are scored within 10 feet of the net.

 

“He goes into those dangerous areas that a lot of players don’t (like) to play in,” teammate Bobby Ryan said. “He’s so good along the wall and in that five-feet area around the net. He can have a tough night with the puck and his legs don’t feel well, but if he gets into that area he’s still going to hurt you.”

 

Like Perry, Kopitar hurt opponents in multiple ways because he plays on both special teams units and was having his best season at both ends of the ice.

 

Kopitar was 10th overall in the NHL in points and ranked in the top 20 in takeaways at the time of his injury, which makes his absence greater.

 

“He plays a lot of minutes – PK, power play,” teammate Ryan Smyth said. “He plays it all. It’s tough to replace a guy like that. But collectively we can all step up if that’s the case.”

 

Kopitar went down just six days after the Kings lost top-line right wing Justin Williams to a dislocated shoulder, which further juxtaposes the fortunes of L.A. and Anaheim as the regular season winds down.

 

A non-entity the first two months of the season, the Ducks are in position to return to the postseason after a one-year absence. The Kings, at one point the No. 1 team in the Western Conference this season, must simply hold on to a playoff berth.

 

Their home-and-home series April 8 and 9 looms as the biggest in rivalry history.

 

It’s too bad all the stars won’t be out. 

San Jose G Antti Niemi has made 31 straight starts partly because Antero Niittymaki was banged up, but expect Niemi in goal until the Sharks clinch. Niemi is 7-2-1 since he signed a four-year, $15.2 million extension March 3. … Dallas faces an uphill road to avoid missing the postseason for the third straight year: Six of its final eight games are on the road, and it is without D Nicklas Grossman (sprained knee ligament) … Kings GM Dean Lombardi was named to the advisory group for Team USA for the upcoming World Championship … Phoenix D Ed Jovanovski reportedly will likely miss the rest of the regular season in his recovery from orbital bone surgery.

 

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