Kings Can’t Keep Up With the Avalanche

Had the Kings been at full strength, playing the Colorado Avalanche would have been a big enough challenge.

But when a sore knee idled their top goal-scorer, left wing Dmitri Khristich, the Kings had little chance against the NHL’s second-most prolific team. And when the Kings took a succession of penalties in the first and second periods Friday, they left themselves no chance to win at all.

Led by Peter Forsberg’s five-assist performance, the Avalanche roared past the Kings, 6-2, before a sellout crowd of 16,061 at McNichols Arena. Colorado (33-17-10) converted three of seven power plays, including a first-period goal by Claude Lemieux that was the 250th of his NHL career and 500th NHL point.

The five-point game was the second in a row for Forsberg, who had three goals and two assists against Edmonton on Monday. “As long as my teammates are in good position, I like to pass the puck,” said Forsberg, last season’s rookie of the year. “I’m just feeling good out there right now.”

The Kings (18-30-14) felt the familiar frustration of losing. Their winless streak reached 0-5-2 and their road winless streak hit 0-10-3. Goaltender Byron Dafoe played well in his first start in six games, but his personal futility streak hit 0-9-1 as the Kings fell two points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the final Western Conference playoff spot.

“They’re a bigger, stronger, better team than we are,” King Coach Larry Robinson said of the Avalanche, which ranks second in the West with 76 points. “We can’t afford to have seven, eight guys out of the lineup and match them. We tried to play as much as we could matching lines, but their top lines did a much better job.”

The Kings did a decent job early, converting their first power play when Kevin Stevens deflected a shot by Jari Kurri between Stephane Fiset’s legs at 4:32 of the first period. But Colorado scored on its first two power plays with crisp, pinpoint passes to Valeri Kamensky and Lemieux in front.

Defenseman Adam Foote scored from the lower edge of the right faceoff circle to give Colorado a 3-1 lead at 6:29 of the second period, and defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh cruised in on the right side to flick home a pass from Forsberg during a five-minute power play.

“They’re a talented team. It’s tough,” Dafoe said. “We’re desperate to win and we have to face a team like Colorado.”

It won’t get easier. Khristich, the Kings’ only 20-goal scorer, was to return to Los Angeles today to have his sore right knee examined.

“It’s just one more episode in the ongoing saga of the Los Angeles Kings,” Robinson said. “How’s it going to end? I don’t know. You tell me. If it’s not one thing it’s another. I’m already losing the skin on my hands, from nerves. Some people get ulcers. My skin peels.

“The longer we go, the more frustrating it gets.”

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King Notes

General Manager Sam McMaster and Coach Larry Robinson met with club owners Philip Anschutz and Edward Roski on Thursday after a team dinner. McMaster said Wayne Gretzky’s status was discussed but no conclusion was reached. McMaster said he had no meeting set today in St. Louis with Blues GM/Coach Mike Keenan, who had threatened to break off trade talks because of the Kings’ supposed hesitancy. . . . NHL spokesman Arthur Pincus denied a New York Post story saying the league vetoed an attempt by the Vancouver Canucks to buy Gretzky. “Categorically and emphatically untrue,” Pincus said.