"Who are these guys and what did they do with the Los Angeles Kings?"

The reason: The Kings were playing their best hockey of the season and were actually winning some games during a grueling five-game road trip, their longest of the season.

Fast forward to the present...after earning three out of a possible four points in a home-and-home series against the Stanley Cup- contending Anaheim Ducks, people must still be scratching their heads in amazement and asking that very same question, wondering who these guys wearing the jerseys of the Kings are.

"It was a very closely-fought match," Kings head coach Marc Crawford said after Saturday's contest. "The intensity was exactly where we thought it would be. I thought we learned an awful lot about a lot of our players in an intense atmosphere in a game that had a sure-fire rivalry going. It was a spirited game."

Without question, the two games with the Ducks were hard-fought, physical battles in which the Kings, who remained mired in last place in the Western Conference, a whopping 30 points behind Anaheim in the standings, gave the Ducks all they could handle.

That wide gulf between the two teams--one being a Stanley Cup favorite and the other being a pushover for most of the season--is what made the outcome of the two games rather surprising.

Both games went to a shootout to decide the winner. The Ducks took the first game of the weekend series, 3-2 at Staples Center, while the Kings won at Honda Center in Anaheim, 4-3.

In the two games, the Kings put in very solid efforts, working hard on every shift.

"They always play us well," said Anaheim forward Corey Perry. "They come out and battle hard."

"They're one of the hardest-working teams we play against," said Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who got the start in both games.

What made the results even more surprising was that the Kings were able to hang on against the Ducks on Sunday, despite being outshot in the game, 42-24.

"This was a hard-fought series," Crawford told the Associated Press following Sunday's contest in Anaheim. "I'm really happy that our guys played well. We looked at it as a playoff series for our guys. We prepared for it like a playoff series."

So what has been the difference for the Kings over the past few weeks?

In a word: Goaltending.

Burke, along with Garon, who was activated from injured reserve on February 2 (broken finger), have been very solid in goal since the Kings began their most recent road swing on February 3.

The Kings opened their road trip with a 7-0 blowout victory over the Florida Panthers on February 3. Since that game, Burke is 3-1-1 with a 1.55 goals-against average (GAA) and a .951 save percentage.

Overall, Burke, who has gotten the bulk of the work in goal for the Kings since he was acquired, is 4-3-2 with a 2.22 GAA, a .931 save percentage and one shutout in ten appearances.

Aside from the won-loss record, those are not just decent numbers. Rather, they are stellar marks for any goaltender.

As for Garon, he was clearly rusty in his first game back from injury in a 4-3 overtime loss at Washington on February 8. But he put in a very strong performance against Anaheim on Saturday, despite the shootout loss.

"Mathieu Garon played great for us," said Kings winger Tom Kostopoulos. "We just couldn't pull it out."

"I thought Mathieu was pretty good throughout the entire evening," said Crawford. "He made some very good saves very early in the game, allowing us to get our feet underneath us."

Finally being able to get a few practices under his belt helped.

"I felt better than I did in my last game," said Garon. "I had a great week of practice."

If Burke and Garon can keep up their strong play, the Kings' improved play of late will continue. They would likely climb out of the Western Conference basement, but they are too far out of playoff contention to be anything more than spoilers for the playoff-bound and the bubble teams the rest of the way.

IMPROVED PLAY BUILDS CONFIDENCE

The huge improvement in goal for the Kings has clearly had a strong, positive impact on the skaters, and they are a much more confident bunch.

Indeed, after earning six out of a possible ten points on their recent road trip, and now earning a split against one of the NHL's best teams, the Kings have a reason to be encouraged by what they are doing on the ice these days.

"That's an excellent hockey club over there and we matched them shift for shift for two games," said Burke.

"I don't think we're as far off from being a playoff team as it looks in the standings," Kings forward Michael Cammalleri said after Saturday's game. "It would have been better to win tonight, for sure, but we have to keep playing hard like this and earn a little respect."

NORSTROM OUT

In the first period of Saturday's game, Kings defenseman Mattias Norstrom took a hit from Anaheim forward Chris Kunitz and suffered a minor knee strain. He did not return in that game, and also sat out Sunday's match-up at Anaheim.

"Mattias suffered a strained knee," Crawford explained. "It's not serious."

Norstrom did not undergo an MRI examination. He is listed as day-to- day and is hoping to return to the lineup on Thursday when the Kings host the Vancouver Canucks, or on Saturday when the Colorado Avalanche are in town.

TUKONEN GETS A SHOT

The Kings recalled left wing Lauri Tukonen from the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League (Kings primary minor league affiliate) on February 21, after left wing Raitis Ivanans was placed on injured reserve (retroactive to February 19) due to an undisclosed arm injury.

Tukonen, 20, has ten goals and thirteen assists for 23 points in 43 games with the Monarchs this season.

The 6-2, 200-pound native of Hyvinkaa, Finland was selected by the Kings in the first round (11th overall) in the 2004 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

Tukonen will wear jersey number 44.

Ivanans, the Kings' enforcer, has two goals and three assists for five points with 93 penalty minutes this season. The 6-3, 263-pound native of Riga, Latvia was signed by the Kings as an unrestricted free agent on July 13, 2006.

SECOND WIND FOR KOPITAR - REDUX

As we reported last week, Kings rookie sensation Anze Kopitar lit up the opposition during the Kings recent road trip, scoring three goals with two assists for five points on the five-game trip.

Prior to the road trip, Kopitar was struggling a bit, and Crawford said that Kopitar was probably tired.

But with three assists in the two games against the Ducks and a shootout goal on Sunday, "fatigue" certainly isn't a term that comes to mind when looking at Kopitar's performance.

"He doesn't look [tired] right now," said Crawford.

"He's probably been tired three of four times this year," added Crawford. "It's because he's a young guy, but he rejuvenates quickly. I think he looked tired when he got back from the All-Star break because he didn't get an All-Star break. And now, he's got a little more juice in his stride. I thought he looked good tonight."

"With young guys, you've got to make sure that they're not only rejuvenating themselves, but make sure they're eating right, getting the right amount of sleep. All that professional type of conduct that guys like [Rob] Blake, Norstrom and [Aaron] Miller have done throughout their careers--we've got to be teaching Anze to do that so he'll have a long, prosperous career as well."

To be sure, Kopitar was arguably the Kings' best player in both games against Anaheim, as he has been for much of the season, and he has clearly gotten the attention of people around the league.

"It's pretty to watch," Ducks star winger Teemu Selanne told the Los Angeles Times after Sunday's game. "If someone told me to go play [in the NHL] when I was 19, I would have said, 'No way.' He plays like a ten years veteran. It's great to see. He is a good example for all the young players too."

TRADE DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING

With the NHL trade deadline just six days away, and with the Kings expected to be sellers, all eyes were on the meeting of NHL general managers held over the past couple of days in Florida.

But not a single trade came out of the meetings as prices for players attractive to playoff contenders is rumored to be very, very high.

As such, teams appear to be waiting until the last minute before pulling off a deal.

For the Kings, likely players to be moved include defensemen Aaron Miller and Brent Sopel, although in today's NHL, anything can happen involving just about any player, especially with the trade deadline looming.

It is unlikely that the rebuilding Kings will deal any of their young players or draft picks. Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky is also believed to be off the market. Also, due to their high salaries, Blake and Norstrom are also not likely to be traded.

PHOTOS COURTESY LA KINGS HOCKEY CLUB

Gann Matsuda is a Los Angeles native and has followed the Los Angeles Kings since 1973. His days covering the Kings began in the mid-80's when he wrote game stories and news and notes pieces on various online services (GEnie, National Videotex Network and eWorld), before moving to e-mail lists and the World Wide Web. He has been the news editor for the Online Kingdom (http://www.kingshockey.com) since 1995, and has also covered professional hockey players of Japanese descent for the Rafu Shimpo (Los Angeles Japanese Daily News) since  2001.

Kings Notes, Feb 5, 2007
plus - Fire Sale Continues: Sean Avery Traded to Rangers