Kings Wear Blank Look

Vyacheslav Kozlov made a highlight-video move to score a blooper-reel goal, and the Red Wings used that rare combination in successfully launching their Stanley Cup playoff bid Thursday night.

They also got an empty-net score by Sergei Fedorov and some tight-checking defense in beating the Kings, 2-0, in the first game of the Western Conference series at Joe Louis Arena.

“That’s playoff hockey,” said King defenseman Rob Blake, whose primary contribution was a teeth-rattling check that sent Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom to the locker room for a while to gather his senses during the first period. It was the hardest of several hard hits that stirred the usual 19,983 on hand.

“We played pretty well, but we’ve got to score,” Blake added. “This is only the first game. You have to win four games.”

Game No. 2 is Saturday, and the Red Wings hope they will be whole for it. They were short their captain, Steve Yzerman, Thursday night.

“We thought we might be this morning,” Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman said after his 201st playoff victory. “He came to the morning skate, but got chills and had stomach problems.”

The pregame warmup failed to warm up Yzerman, who also has had knee problems lately, but the Red Wings have plenty of other players.

“Obviously, we’d like to play with him in the lineup . . . but we can’t give ourselves a built-in excuse,” said Detroit goalie Chris Osgood, whose shutout was his seventh in postseason play.

No, the Red Wings played as they usually play--well; but in this case a bit better, because they are playoff-honed. They outshot the Kings, 12-4, in the opening period, and, lest the Kings took any heart from that, turned it on offensively in the second.

Kozlov’s goal, which came 1:43 into the second period, was scored after he took the puck into the right corner, then made a move that spun around King defenseman Jaroslav Modry and gave Kozlov some space.

A pick by Mathieu Dandenault on the Kings’ Bryan Smolinski opened up even more ice for Kozlov, who was making like Michelle Kwan at the World Championships as he skated back across the middle.

“I just wanted to cut to the middle and shoot the puck,” Kozlov said. “I was hoping it would hit somebody.”

It did. The shot appeared wide, but so was Jere Karalahti’s derriere. “It hit me right in the [rear],” Karalahti said.

It was enough to beat the Kings, who were shut out only once during the regular season--March 17, 4-0, at St. Louis--but who couldn’t solve the Red Wing defense. The Kings wanted to hold onto the puck, the idea being that they couldn’t get hurt as long as they controlled it, but they couldn’t translate puck possession into shots on goal and ultimately were outshot, 31-19.

“We had some individual players who didn’t have the kind of game we would have liked,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “I also thought some of us didn’t have our legs.”

Some of those legs were back on the ice for the first time in a while. Smolinski played for the first time in 10 days, and Ziggy Palffy for the first time in almost a month. Both absences were because of injuries, and while Smolinski traded blows all night, neither he nor Palffy had a shot until the third period.

“Ziggy will be better on Saturday,” Murray said after putting him on a line with Jozef Stumpel and Luc Robitaille in the third period Thursday night.

Robitaille also failed to get a shot until the third period.

Without a lot of pressure, Osgood could have sat in a rocking chair in the Detroit goal for two periods, while the Red Wings made life miserable for Stephane Fiset.

“I thought both goalies played pretty well,” Bowman said. “It was a very well-earned shutout. We moved the puck pretty well. Fiset made some good saves.”

Several of those came on power plays. The Kings killed six infractions totaling 10:05 against the best power play in the NHL this season, but all of that time with a man down precluded any continuity on offense.

The last Red Wing power play, which came when Glen Murray was called for interference for launching Detroit’s Chris Chelios into the King net, was probably the most dangerous because it included a point-blank shot by Brendan Shanahan at Fiset, plus two rebounds, the last of which crept between the goalie’s pads and slid near the goal line before he could get a stick in the way.

Fiset was pulled for an extra attacker with 1:27 to play, and Fedorov’s empty-net goal with 12.8 seconds left was the result.

The night offered an education for the Kings, whose playoff experience is scant since their Stanley Cup final run of 1993 and who have lost nine playoff games in a row, dating to Game 1 of that final series with Montreal.

“We played a one-goal game, plus an empty-net goal, and we know we can play better,” said Andy Murray, who had predicted that any success against the Red Wings would have to come from an extended series.

That the Kings can play better is a concern to Detroit.

“That’s a tough opponent we’re playing,” winger Brent Gilchrist said. “It’s not going to get any easier.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Kings vs. Detroit

Red Wings lead best-of-seven series, 1-0

Game 1: Red Wings, 2-0

Game 2: Saturday at Detroit,

11 a.m., Channel 7

Game 3: Monday at Staples Center,

7 p.m., Fox Sports Net, ESPN2**

Game 4: Wed. at Staples Center,

7 p.m., Fox Sports Net, ESPN**

Game 5: April 21 at Detroit,*

4 p.m., Fox Sports Net, ESPN**

Game 6: April 23 at Staples Center,*

noon, Channel 7

Game 7: April 25 at Detroit,*

4 p.m., Fox Sports Net, ESPN**

*if necessary; **subject to blackout locally

GAME REPORT, SHOT CHART,

NOTES: Page 12

*

OTHER GAMES

Colorado: 6

Phoenix: 3

Dallas: 3

Edmonton: 0

Philadelphia: 3

Buffalo: 2

Pittsburgh: 7

Washington: 0

New Jersey: 4

Florida: 3

Coverage, Page 13