Kings Have No Room for Error

So now we know all it takes are injuries to the opposition’s top two forwards, shabby play by a third forward, a bunch of old slowpokes in the defense crops, plus one miraculous third-period comeback and two overtime victories.

Simple.

So now let’s see the Kings repeat their feat in the second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.

Buh-bye, Detroit Red Wings.

Hello, Colorado Avalanche.

The Kings’ priorities will be the same against the Avalanche--No. 1 overall in the NHL during the regular season with 118 points and an easy winner over the Vancouver Canucks in the opening round. But the task figures to be more difficult than against Detroit.

The No. 7-seeded Kings might secretly relish their status as the underdogs against the top-seeded Avalanche, but they talked Wednesday like a team that expects to win.

“I want to win the Stanley Cup,” winger Ziggy Palffy said on the eve of Game 1 at the Pepsi Center. “It doesn’t matter if we’re playing Detroit or Colorado. We have to beat those guys.”

Few people outside the organization believed the Kings capable of an upset of the No. 2-seeded Red Wings. No question, injuries to Red Wing forwards Brendan Shanahan and Steve Yzerman played a key role in the Kings’ first series victory since 1993.

But consider the way the Kings won four consecutive games after losing the first two at Detroit. The Kings played with speed and tenacity and smarts. When they got down by a goal or two or three, they didn’t sulk or whine. Their resiliency carried the day, particularly in rallying from a 3-0 third-period deficit to win Game 4 in overtime, 4-3.

The Kings will need everything clicking against the Avalanche, a team that’s every bit as playoff-tested as the Red Wings. After all, Colorado has been to the conference finals four times in five seasons since relocating to Denver from Quebec City before the 1995-96 season. The Avalanche also won the ’96 Stanley Cup championship.

“I don’t look at it as I’m standing in their way, they’re standing in my way,” said winger Adam Deadmarsh, traded with defenseman Aaron Miller to the Kings from the Avalanche for defenseman Rob Blake and center Steven Reinprecht on Feb. 21.

Such defiance suits the Kings.

However, the Kings must avoid parading to the penalty box as they did in the early games against the Red Wings, who exploited their lackluster penalty-killing unit to score nine power-play goals in 27 chances.

The Kings’ 66.7% penalty-killing rate is tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the worst among playoff teams. So it’s mandatory that they stay away from needless penalties such as Stu Grimson’s unsportsmanlike conduct gaffe Monday in Game 6, which shifted the momentum to the Red Wings for a brief time in the second period.

The Kings needed goals from Deadmarsh in the third period and overtime to pull out a 3-2 series-clinching victory.

Coach Andy Murray has watched the videotapes of Colorado’s four-game sweep in the first round against the Canucks and knows what might happen if the Kings don’t stay out of the penalty box.

“Penalties really hurt them,” Murray said of the Canucks. “We have to be careful. We’ve got to have a ‘skate-away’ policy. Just skate away from them and don’t retaliate.”

That doesn’t mean the Kings can afford to be soft on the Avalanche. On the contrary, according to center Bryan Smolinski.

“We have to punish them,” he said. “That’s the way it is in every game. It’s no big secret. Just basic hockey.”

In particular, Smolinski referred to thumping the Colorado defensemen, who cannot be allowed to carry the puck out of their end of the ice without being hit. The Kings must forecheck Blake, Ray Bourque and Adam Foote ceaselessly, creating turnovers in the Colorado end or--at the very least--in the neutral zone.

“We’ve got to outwork them,” Miller said. “If we don’t do that, we’re not going to win. We think we can do it. We’re not here by an accident.”

With the exception of a few minor tweaks in strategy, the Kings’ goals will be the same as in the opening round. Palffy and Luc Robitaille must produce offense, the power play must click better than a 15% success rate (three for 20) against Detroit, goalie Felix Potvin must be sound in net and the defense corps must contain Colorado forwards Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic.

On paper, the series looks like a mismatch. Then again, so did the Kings’ series against Detroit, and look what happened to the Red Wings.

“In the playoffs, you have to realize that every series has to be played on the ice,” Colorado goalie Patrick Roy said when asked how the teams match up. “If you look at the way the Kings played in the last series, obviously, they deserve a lot of credit.”

Bottom line: The Kings’ execution must be flawless and their good fortune must continue if they hope to gain a second consecutive upset over a favored team.