Avalanche win, Ducks’ playoff hopes dim.

The Ducks’ last-ditch playoff bid hit a snag Sunday night, when the Colorado Avalanche pulled out a 5-4 overtime victory against visiting San Jose.

With four games left in the regular season, the eighth-place Avs now have 91 points in the standings, six more than the Ducks. Anaheim needs to gain seven or eight points in its final four games, and hope that Colorado does not earn more than two of eight points. They would also have to pass the Calgary Flames, who lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1 on Sunday.

The Ducks have won eight of their last 11 games after beating the Kings 2-1 in a shootout Saturday. Their chances of making the playoffs increased to 0.9 percent when Chicago beat Calgary on Sunday morning, but fell to 0.7 percent after Colorado’s win.

Ducks 2, Kings 1, SO.

Saku Koivu has perfected the 6-on-4, third-period, game-tying goal.

On Saturday, he also found the perfect shootout move.

A late power-play goal by Koivu sent the Ducks into overtime for the second straight night. But unlike after Friday’s shootout loss to Vancouver, Anaheim was in a celebratory mood after Koivu lifted a forehand past Jonathan Quick in the third shootout round against the Kings.

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Ducks 4, Kings 2.

Something had to give and you could say the Ducks took it.

The Kings’ team-record winning streak ends at nine, and the Ducks’ home winning streak goes to 10 – matching a team record.

Teemu Selanne, Getzlaf, Saku Koivu and Corey Perry scored for the Ducks, while Oscar Moller and Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings.
Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller outdueled counterpart Jonathan Quick, making 35 saves to Quick’s 29.

Getzlaf sprained his left ankle midway through the second period and did not return. X-rays were negative and an MRI exam will be performed today to determine the full extent of the injury.

Kings 6, Ducks 4.

Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar scored in the final six minutes of the third period to break a 4-4 tie, and send the Ducks to their third loss in three meetings against their Southern California rivals.

The Ducks looked as good as dead at 1:44 of the third period, when Jack Johnson scored the Kings’ fourth straight unanswered goal to make it 4-1. But Troy Bodie, Matt Beleskey and Ryan Carter put pucks past Jonathan Quick over the next eight minutes to tie the game at 4, and put the Ducks in position to gain at least a point.
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