Announcer Riding a Winning Streak

Daryl Evans, the Kings’ radio analyst, made good on his last two predictions in the Detroit series. Can he go for the prognosticating hat trick?

Evans, who correctly predicted Brendan Shanahan would play for the Red Wings in Game 5 and that Game 6 would be a tight game, said he believes the Kings can ride the adrenaline from their first-round victory and win Thursday’s opener against the Avalanche at Denver. Playing Colorado in the first round would have been an even better matchup for the Kings, he said, but they can still compete on solid footing.

“The Kings have momentum and Colorado has been resting,” he said Tuesday, referring to the Avalanche’s first-round sweep of the Vancouver Canucks, which ended a week ago.

“If they can go in and play smart and stay out of the penalty box, they can play with them. Of course, the Colorado power play is more potent than Detroit. I don’t expect as physical a series. If Andy [Murray, the Kings’ coach] can find a way to use four lines, that could help. Colorado isn’t four lines deep. They like to go three. I expect a real, real tight series. . . .

“I expect it to go six games. I’m very confident the Kings can beat those guys. The pressure is on Colorado. Anything short of a [Stanley Cup] ring is failure for them. The Kings have accomplished a lot and have reached a level they weren’t sure they should be at. And they’re not going to have a meltdown like they did in the first two games at Detroit.”

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Murray had his priorities straight before he and the team left for Denver. First, he said he had to do an interview with the Faribault (Minn.) Daily News, his hometown newspaper. Then he did his laundry.

He had little time to bask in the afterglow of Monday’s 3-2, series-ending victory over the Red Wings. But he took a moment to comment on the emotion at Staples Center, where fans, players and coaches were caught up in a joyful emotional hurricane.

“The best part about this job is being able to share it with other people,” he said. “Bringing a school buddy into the locker room, or if he has a kid, bringing the kid into the locker room. You kind of had the feeling last night that you’re sharing it with all the people in the building.”

The Kings didn’t practice Tuesday but will skate today at the Pepsi Center. Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, who sat out the last two games against Detroit because of an injured left arm, might be ready--but Murray said he’s not sure if he will change a successful lineup.

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Murray let Stu Grimson know in no uncertain terms that the second-period unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty Grimson took for upending Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom before a faceoff was a no-no.

While Murray said he thought Holmstrom should have been penalized for diving, Grimson had been warned not to jostle for position as he did on that faceoff. The Red Wings tied the score, 1-1, on the power play they gained.

“I didn’t like that he put himself in position that it could be called,” Murray said. “I didn’t like it from Stu. I wanted to play Stu more in the game. I just didn’t like the penalty.”

Murray didn’t use Grimson again, but that was because the Kings soon fell behind, 2-1, and needed offense. Murray said he plans to play Grimson at Denver as an answer to Colorado enforcer Scott Parker.