Defense Duo’s Risky Job Is Avalanche Control

As thorough off the ice as he is on it, King defenseman Mattias Norstrom likes to review game tapes, seeking any way he can improve.

The tape of his performance with defense partner Jere Karalahti in the Kings’ 4-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday probably gave him nightmares.

“There’s a bad night and a bad night,” Karalahti said. “It was a pretty bad night.”

As the Kings’ most physical defense duo, Norstrom and Karalahti have been assigned to play against Colorado center Peter Forsberg. Whether Forsberg’s linemates are Alex Tanguay and Milan Hejduk or Chris Drury and Ville Nieminen, they have admirable speed and talent. But it’s grit that has enabled them to adjust to the Kings’ attempts to slow them and contest the game in the trenches instead of in open ice.

Taking the little they were given and creating chances where none seemed to exist, Forsberg or his linemates figured in every Colorado goal Monday. That helped the Avalanche take a 2-1 lead in the second-round NHL series, which resumes tonight at Staples Center.

“There are world-class players on that line,” Karalahti said. “You’ve got to be extra careful when you jump into the play. You’ve got to stay back and play on the defensive side. They’re strong and skillful.”

Norstrom and Karalahti each went minus-four Monday. Plus/minus ratings aren’t an absolute measure--skaters get a plus if they’re on the ice for an even-strength or short-handed goal by their team and a minus if they’re on the ice for an even-strength or short-handed goal against their team--but they’re an indicator of players’ effectiveness. And by their own measure, Norstrom and Karalahti didn’t get the job done.

“We know we have defensive responsibilities, and any night you don’t take care of your job, you’ve let the team down,” Norstrom said Tuesday at HealthSouth training center. “They can throw all kinds of skill at you. Also, they’re really good at cycling [the puck] down low. You have to try to position yourself between them and the net. To get to the net, they have to go through you.”

Both made uncharacteristic mistakes Monday. On Colorado’s third goal, at 8:21 of the third period, Norstrom gambled offensively and pinched into the zone, which proved costly when Hejduk’s quick pass to Forsberg launched Colorado into its transition game. As Norstrom and Karalahti scrambled back, Forsberg slid a pass under Karalahti’s outstretched stick to Hejduk for the goal that gave Colorado a 3-1 lead.

The Kings cut that to 3-2 on a power-play goal by Glen Murray at the 10-minute mark, but Hejduk’s breakout pass to Tanguay set up a scoring chance for Jon Klemm after Karalahti fell and Tanguay’s first shot ricocheted off Norstrom’s skate and goalie Felix Potvin’s pad.

“Those guys have played hard,” King Coach Andy Murray said of Norstrom and Karalahti. “They made poor reads, no question. . . . I thought [Karalahti] played mean. I actually thought he played a weak first game in Colorado. I thought he had a poor game. I thought his gaps [between him and the man he’s defending] were too big. If you can close the gap early, they can’t generate as much speed to attack you.”

The problem for the Kings is how well the Avalanche has adjusted to what they have done.

The Kings, knowing they probably won’t win if they try to match the faster Avalanche rush for rush, hoped to prevail by playing a deliberate, physical game, outworking Colorado and getting better goaltending. It didn’t happen.

Potvin should have stopped Rob Blake’s 75-foot shot 4:33 into the game, as Potvin acknowledged, while Avalanche counterpart Patrick Roy was beaten on three redirected shots. For nearly every hit the Kings delivered, Colorado gave one back--the official count gave the Kings a 47-43 edge. For every attempt by the Kings to frustrate the Avalanche and minimize its speed, the Avalanche had an answer.

“I think they’ll play it any way you want to play,” said defenseman Aaron Miller, familiar with Colorado’s versatility from his time there before he was traded to the Kings with Adam Deadmarsh in the Blake deal. “If they get a lead, they’ll shut it down. That’s a team that knows how to win.”

To stop Forsberg’s line, Karalahti said, “is a big challenge. . . . You’ve got to keep hitting them and try to play with the puck against them so they can’t score.”

Norstrom saw no reason for the Kings to be any less physical or aggressive tonight. They spent more time in Colorado’s zone Monday than in the first two games, and if they have the puck, Forsberg, Drury, Hejduk and company don’t. It will be another test of fortitude and guts, and Norstrom says he is ready.

“I don’t think there’s a guy in here saying, ‘Oh, I’m tired.’ This is the fun time of year,” he said. “This is what you dream of as a kid and talk about in training camp.”

Said Karalahti, “We feel we can win. [Monday] night they got a couple of good bounces for them. . . . We’re going to go hard against them. If you’re going to stop those guys, you’ve got to play hard.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Playoff Scoring Leaders

Through Monday

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Player, Team GP G A P Forsberg, Col 7 4 8 12 Satan, Buf 9 3 8 11 Lemieux, Pit 9 5 5 10 Mogilny, NJ 8 4 6 10 Turgeon, StL 8 3 7 10 Hejduk, Col 7 2 8 10 Sundin, Tor 6 4 5 9 Holik, NJ 8 4 5 9 Gomez, NJ 8 3 6 9 Schneider, Kings 9 0 9 9 Drury, Col 7 5 3 8 Sakic, Col 7 5 3 8 Gratton, Buf 9 5 3 8 Blake, Col 7 3 5 8 Young, StL 8 3 5 8 Palffy, Kings 9 3 5 8 Stumpel, Kings 9 3 5 8 Lidstrom, Det 6 1 7 8

*--*

GAME 4 TONIGHT

COLORADO at KINGS

7, ESPN2, Fox Sports Net 2

Avalanche leads series, 2-1

Colorado’s Joe Sakic may try to test his sore shoulder today to see if he can play in Game 4. D8

ST. LOUIS 3, DALLAS 2 (2 OT)

Blues lead series, 3-0

NEW JERSEY 3, TORONTO 2 (OT)

Devils lead series, 2-1