Red Wings to Rely on Their Depth

Although the three-time-zone jump from Game 2 Saturday afternoon in Detroit to Game 3 Sunday night at Staples Center is bizarre, it’s not a first.

King television announcer Bob Miller recalled that in 1975, when the Kings played the Toronto Maple Leafs in a best-of-three preliminary series, owner Jack Kent Cooke insisted the third game be scheduled for a Friday, instead of an open Sunday. The Kings, who had a club-record 105 points, won the first game at the Forum on April 8. The Maple Leafs won in overtime at Toronto on April 10, and the series came back to the Forum on April 11.

“Bob Pulford was the coach, and his concern was, the Kings had an older team and wouldn’t be able to recover as quickly,” Miller said. “Both teams were going to travel commercial, but [Maple Leaf owner] Harold Ballard chartered a plane for his team. The Kings flew commercial and got back to L.A. 1 or 1:30 in the afternoon and played that night and lost, 2-1.

“Bob Pulford said it was the toughest defeat he had ever suffered. He left in tears. We had a really good team that year too. We had Rogie [Vachon] in goal, Butch Goring, Bob Berry . . . Toronto finished so far behind [with 78 points].”

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Single tickets remain for Games 3 and 4, Sunday and Wednesday at Staples Center. The Kings will distribute 20,000 black pompoms at each game to emphasize their “Back in black” theme. . . . Detroit assistant coach Dave Lewis said he has not been contacted by the Mighty Ducks about their coaching vacancy but would be interested after the playoffs. “My hat’s been out there for a few head-coaching jobs the last couple of years,” said Lewis, who interviewed for the King job before Andy Murray was hired.