Moment of Truth

This is the game they played in their driveways, or at the neighborhood rink their parents drove them to at some unspeakably early hour.

This is the game every hockey player has played in his head, imagining every eye riveted on him as he skates around a string of befuddled defenders to score the winning goal.

This is the Kings’ season.

This is their moment, tonight at the Pepsi Center, in the seventh game of their second-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche, the winner to face the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference finals.

They’re ready. They’re eager. And after having rallied to defeat the Detroit Red Wings in six games in the first round and having erased Colorado’s 3-1 lead in this series, the Kings’ hunger isn’t sated yet.

“I’ve had a good feeling about this team for a long time,” defenseman Philippe Boucher said Tuesday, after the Kings’ brief but purposeful practice at their El Segundo training facility. “People outside doubted us, but we never doubted ourselves or thought we couldn’t win.

“This is the time to prove it. There’s no reason to doubt.”

Consecutive 1-0 shutouts by Felix Potvin, who has not given up a goal in 164 minutes 28 seconds over three games, lifted the seventh-seeded Kings to equal footing with the top-seeded Avalanche. The Kings’ patience, grit and dedication to team defense have equalized the Avalanche’s edge in talent, and Potvin has been good enough to make up the rest.

Not that Colorado goalie Patrick Roy has been a slouch.

“It was sickening, how good he was,” King center Bryan Smolinski said after the Kings’ Game 6 victory, in which Roy stopped 31 shots. “We’ve hit him a lot, but that means he’s playing well. We have a lot of respect for him. We’ve really got to bear down to get one by him. The same with the Cat [Potvin].”

Bearing up is as important at this point as bearing down.

Colorado undoubtedly has benefited from the two days’ rest since Game 6. For core defensemen Ray Bourque, Rob Blake and Adam Foote, it was a chance to rest after averaging 32 minutes, 31:26 and 30:02, respectively, over the first six games. However, Joe Sakic’s sore right shoulder, which kept him from taking faceoffs Sunday, hasn’t improved a lot and he will be limited again.

“There isn’t anybody on their team that’s healthy,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “Everybody’s got a strain, bruise, cut or nick. It gives everybody a chance to feel better, at least until the first hit.”

The Kings intend to follow the first hit with a second, third, fourth and fifth. Their physical play has helped blunt the effectiveness of Colorado center Peter Forsberg in the last two games, and take away his talented wingers. King defensemen Aaron Miller and Mattias Norstrom again will see a lot of Forsberg tonight, but it will take total team defense for the Kings to prevail again and win their third road game in this series.

Historically, home teams are 59-37 in Game 7s since the NHL adopted the best-of-seven format in 1939, but road teams have had a 34-32 edge in playoff games this spring.

“For us, the situation doesn’t really change,” Potvin said. “You win or the season is over, like it’s been the last two games. We’ve been handling it pretty good.”

Said center Eric Belanger: “The last few have been like Game 7s because it was win or die. We need to have the same approach [tonight] and we’re going to be fine. The key is going to be to put in 60 minutes, like we did the last two games. If we play the same way, our chances are good.”

They will probably play with the same lineup as in Game 6, with Jaroslav Modry getting regular shifts on defense and Jere Karalahti getting spot duty. Their strategy will be the same too: try to avoid bad penalties, try to clog the neutral zone to prevent the Avalanche from developing plays off the rush, fight for every inch of the ice and try to hold the Avalanche scoreless for as long as possible.

“You don’t change anything when you win,” Ian Laperriere said. “The thing we did at home [in winning Game 6] is, we played like it was a road game. There were no fancy plays. That’s the only way we can beat them, to play like that.”

Getting traffic in front of Roy to distract the veteran goalie is another part of their plan. Although Roy is considered the NHL’s top money goalie, he has lost his last three Game 7s with the Avalanche.

“Patrick Roy is going to be unbelievable,” Luc Robitaille said. “I can guarantee it.”

It’s also safe to say the Kings will be as pumped up as they’ve ever been, and that Murray need not deliver a “Win one for the Gipper” speech to motivate them. He’s not planning any grand moves, but he’s not yet sure exactly what he will say or do.

Tuesday, he showed them a Canadian beer commercial in which people proclaim they’d go to outrageous extremes to win the Stanley Cup. But today, he said he’s more likely to take a practical, businesslike approach.

“Before the world championships one year, we had a big pad and asked everybody to dedicate the game to somebody,” Murray said. “A couple of guys had fathers that had passed away, and they got real emotional. I just don’t know if any of that fits this situation. I’m sure some of our guys will mentally dedicate the game to someone. Everybody has intrinsic motivation.”

The main motivation is to keep this alive and to have someplace to go every day.

“If I’m at the rink, I’m home,” Laperriere said. “I’ve been doing this since I was 5, 6 years old. Sometimes I feel better at the rink than at home. I’ve been doing this all winter, for eight months. I want to keep going.

“It’s fun to play in May. It’s fun to be around the rink. It’s fun to see our fans go crazy. This is the first time, professionally, I’ve played in May. The last time was in junior. It can’t get any better than this.”

Maybe--just maybe--it can.

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KINGS AT COLORADO, TONIGHT, 7, FSN