Lights Out on Kings

By JIM HODGES

April 20, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Quick, somebody call Detroit. Tell the folks at Joe Louis Arena to take Friday off. Get some early Easter with the family. Your services won’t be needed.

Sure, you’ve heard this before, but it keeps happening over and over. The dreaded Red Wing power play reared its head again Wednesday night, and if the first-period goals by Pat Verbeek and, particularly, Larry Murphy were somewhat tainted, they still paved the way home for Detroit with a 3-0 victory and a four-game series sweep of the Kings.

The power-play goals were Detroit’s Nos. 7 and 8 of the series, and came within 2:31 of each other.

The Red Wings had only 14 goals in the sweep--three of them on empty nets, including one by Sergei Fedorov with 51 seconds to play Wednesday night--giving enhanced credence to what can happen when you take advantage of a man advantage.

When you don’t use the edge, you get swept.

They couldn’t turn the lights on to begin the third period at Staples Center. The problem was first described as a power failure, then as a computer glitch.

The 18,118 assembled were satisfied with the power-failure explanation, because as far as they were concerned the power had failed for the Kings through the entire series.

They finished 0 for 23 on power-play opportunities in the series, and Wednesday night were booed off the ice after each of seven man-advantage chances.

They failed to win any of the five faceoffs on their first three power plays, and after finally winning a draw to open their fourth, quickly turned over the puck and needed 56 seconds--about the time the first unit was on the ice--to get set up in the attacking zone.

They failed to get a shot on that power play.

Detroit’s power play was a different story.

The Red Wings stumbled about on their first opportunity, but were presented another at 16:03 of the opening period when Jozef Stumpel was detected cross-checking Chris Chelios, who wasn’t detected diving to the ice.

Verbeek’s goal came when Fedorov sent him a pass between Rob Blake and Bob Corkum, with Verbeek having a largely empty net as a target for a 1-0 lead.

It became 2-0 when Murphy lofted a puck over a scrum in front of the King net on the Red Wings’ third power play.

Murphy was aided by several events, the most significant of which was Darren McCarty’s diving on King goalie Stephane Fiset, allegedly in pursuit of a loose puck.

Blake sized up the situation, saw Fiset buried under McCarty and dived in front of the net, but Murphy merely lifted the puck over him for the goal.

Referee Paul Devorski turned a deaf ear to the protestations of King Coach Andy Murray, in accordance of Rule No. 78, which says that interference with a goalkeeper “will be enforced exclusively in accordance with the on-ice judgment of the referee(s), and not by means of video replay or review.”

While the teams were lining up for the faceoff to begin the final 19 seconds of the period, Murray was screaming at Devorski’s back, as the replay of the incident was being shown over and over again on the four screens directly over his head.

The game was effectively over, though two periods remained to be played.

Two more empty power plays in the second period rubbed salt in the King wounds. Two more in the third finished a nightmare four games. The third turned into a goalie derby, with both Detroit’s Chris Osgood and the Kings’ Fiset turning in highlight-video performances.

Fiset’s included stopping a shot by Steve Yzerman from the right wing, then sprawling across the crease to get a stick on Steve Duchesne’s shot on the rebound.

Brendan Shanahan was detected high-sticking on the play, which gave the Kings yet another power play. Yet another missed opportunity.

Osgood’s kick save beat Nelson Emerson’s shot, and the goalie sprawled on Emerson’s try at a rebound goal.

Fiset’s last stand came just after the Kings’ final power play. Disgusted with the results of the regulars, Murray trotted out the fourth line, Ian Laperriere, Brad Chartrand and Jason Blake, for a last-ditch try.

It didn’t work.

Fiset stopped 25 Detroit shots and had no chance at the ones that went in. But those are mere statistics, the kind that Detroit fans greet with thrown octopuses.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Kings vs. Detroit

Detroit wins best-of-seven series, 4-0

* GAME 1: Detroit 2, Kings 0

* GAME 2: Detroit 8, Kings 5

* GAME 3: Detroit 2, Kings 1

* GAME 4: Detroit 3, Kings 0

HELENE ELLIOTT

Garry Galley knows playoff chances are not to be wasted, but the Kings let this slip away early. Page 3

San Jose: 3

St. Louis: 2