Battle Scars Will Be Telling

It’s the Detroit Red Wings who must compensate for injuries to forwards Brendan Shanahan and Steve Yzerman today, but it’s the Kings who must be hurting at game’s end if they want to even their first-round playoff series.

Their uneven performance Wednesday in a 5-3 loss to the Red Wings in the series opener puts them in a precarious situation in Game 2 at Joe Louis Arena. If they lose patience again, they will surely lose the series, so deep are the Red Wings even without Shanahan (broken foot) and Yzerman (sprained ankle). If the Kings again distance themselves emotionally and physically, they will have little chance to end their 13-game playoff losing streak, no matter that the series shifts to Staples Center for Games 3 and 4 Sunday and Wednesday.

“Winners always come into the locker room battered and bruised. Losers go home unhurt,” said winger Kelly Buchberger, who learned about the mental and physical demands of playoff hockey while a member of the Edmonton Oilers’ 1990 Stanley Cup-winning team.

“We’ve got to play twice as hard as we did in the last game to come up with a win. When we’re looking for answers, we should look in the mirror and ask what you can do for your team, not what your linemates can do for you. We’ve got to play more competitive as a team. All 20 players, not individuals.”

King Coach Andy Murray hasn’t done any cartwheels since he learned Shanahan and Yzerman won’t be in the lineup today or in the foreseeable future. He knows the Red Wings’ talent level will experience a minimal dropoff because the duo’s minutes will be parceled out to the speedy and skillful Sergei Fedorov, who had a goal and two assists in Game 1 and won 17 of 26 faceoffs; crafty center Igor Larionov, who scored the Red Wings’ fifth goal, and Viacheslav Kozlov, always a threat from the wing.

“We couldn’t care less if Gordie Howe suited up,” Murray said after the team’s practice Friday at Joe Louis Arena.

“We have to compete more. We have to play more desperate. We didn’t raise the level of our game. . . . We’re going to expect their players to play harder with those two players out of the lineup, which means we have to play harder.”

Fedorov accepted the added pressure he and his teammates will bear. “Adversity is adversity, but it’s playoff hockey. It’s not 82 games,” he said. “It’s a small price to pay. . . . I’m going to prepare myself for a very fast-paced game.”

King goalie Felix Potvin, who wasn’t to blame on Detroit’s five goals, also downplayed the notion the Red Wings will be weakened today.

“They’ve played without those guys and other guys throughout the year when they had injuries,” Potvin said. “They have other guys who can step up. It’s not going to be any easier.”

But the Kings need not repeat their Game 1 mistakes and make it any harder than it has to be.

They repeated their mantra about staying out of the penalty box, having seen replays of the needless penalty by Jere Karalahti that set up Detroit’s first power-play goal and helped the Red Wings build a 3-0 lead in the first period. They repeated their mantra about finding the urgency that motivated them through a 13-2-5-2 playoff push and into seventh place in the Western Conference.

“The key is not to be down, 3-0, after one [period],” winger Glen Murray said. “We’ve got to play more desperate. They came out flying and we were flat. We were better in the second period, but we can’t do that again.

“We can’t take penalties. Their power play is pretty good, no matter who they have in the lineup. . . . No excuses. We’ve got to play our game and play the way we played to get here.”

The Kings’ power play--and overall defensive cohesion--could get a boost from the return of Lubomir Visnovsky, who sat out Game 1 because of nerve damage that left the bottom of his left foot numb. A good puckhandler with speed and a fine shot from the point, he could help the Kings end an 0-for-24 power-play streak against Detroit that includes an 0-for-23 smothering in their four-game playoff loss to the Red Wings last spring.

“They’ll be missing two fabulous hockey players, but just look at the players they have to fill in,” King winger Nelson Emerson said. “There are no holes. We can’t think there will be. . . . We have to be more disciplined. We can’t be in the penalty box. We saw how their power play can hurt us. We need our power play to step up and we’ve got to stay out of the box.”

Tactically, the Kings won’t change much. But they will try to pressure the Red Wings’ defensemen, hoping to wear down Nicklas Lidstrom--who played 27 minutes 57 seconds Wednesday--and 40-year-old Larry Murphy.

“If they do have a weakness, it might be their defense,” Buchberger said, “and if that’s the case, we’ve got to get in on their defensemen. They have skilled forwards, and we have to play more in their end and work their defensemen.

“What it comes down to, though, is we’ve just got to compete a lot harder.”

*

Red Wings lead series, 1-0

Game 1: at Detroit 5, Kings 3

Today: at Detroit, 10 a.m.

Sunday: at KINGS, 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday: at KINGS, 7:30 p.m.

April 21: *at Detroit, noon

April 23: *at KINGS, 7:30 p.m.

April 25: *at Detroit, 4 p.m.

* if necessary