GAME: Anaheim Mighty Ducks (25-29-9-8) at Los Angeles Kings (27-20-16-7).

TIME: Sunday, 4 p.m. EST.

In the thick of a tight race for the final few playoff spots in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Kings know every point is important.

They'll continue their drive for a postseason berth as they host the defending Western Conference champion Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

The Kings lost 3-1 to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Joe Corvo scored the lone goal for Los Angeles, which has won just twice in its last six games (2-3-1).

Desperate for at least a point, the Kings pulled goalie Cristobal Huet with nearly three minutes left in the game, but couldn't manage a goal.

"We failed to finish our opportunities," coach Andy Murray said. "We had ample opportunities to put pucks behind (San Jose goalie Evgeni) Nabokov in the last two periods but couldn't get that done."

Los Angeles is in ninth place in the Western Conference, one point behind both St. Louis and Nashville for the final two playoff spots, and five points ahead of 10th-place Edmonton.

Luc Robitaille played in his 1,000th game for the Kings on Sunday, becoming just the second player in team history, along with Dave Taylor (1,111), to reach that mark.

Robitaille, who is 10 goals shy of Marcel Dionne's club record of 550, needs just six points to break John Bucyk's NHL record of 1,369 points by a left wing. His 650 career goals already rank first all-time among left wingers.

The Mighty Ducks are coming off Friday's 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders - their third straight defeat since a three-game winning streak.

Samuel Pahlsson scored for Anaheim, which will become the fifth team since 1993 to miss the playoffs after playing in the finals the previous season.

"Basically, the pride factor is what we're playing for now - showing each other that we care about each other and care about the team, and that we're still a good hockey team," Ducks defenseman Keith Carney said. "We haven't shown it a lot this year consistently, but we talked about playing the remaining 12 games for the sweater and playing for pride."

STANDINGS: Mighty Ducks - 67 points, 4th place, 20 PB, Pacific Division. Kings - 77 points, 3rd place, 10 PB, Pacific Division.

TEAM LEADERS: Mighty Ducks - Sergei Fedorov, 24 goals, 31 assists and 55 points; Garrett Burnett, 144 PIM. Kings - Alexander Frolov, 22 goals; Jozef Stumpel, 27 assists; Robitaille and Frolov, 45 points; Sean Avery, 234 PIM.

SPECIAL TEAMS (through March 12): Mighty Ducks - Power play: 16.7 percent (46 for 275), 11th in NHL. Penalty killing: 84.3 percent (253 for 300), 13th. Kings - Power play: 13.9 percent (42 for 303), 27th. Penalty killing: 81.1 percent (241 for 297), 27th.

GOALTENDERS: Mighty Ducks - Jean-Sebastien Giguere (15-27-5, 3 SO, 2.59 GAA); Martin Gerber (10-10-4, 2, 2.27). Kings - Huet (9-10-10, 3, 2.45); Milan Hnilicka (0-1-0, 0, 3.75).

SEASON SERIES: Kings, 3-1-1.

LAST MEETING: Feb. 29; Mighty Ducks, 2-1. At Anaheim, Fedorov had two goals and an assist, and Vaclav Prospal had a goal and two assists for the Ducks, who scored three goals in both the first and third periods.

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Mighty Ducks - 8-20-3-4 on the road; Kings - 14-10-9-1 at home.

— Associated Press