WESTERN CONFERENCE PREVIEW

*--* Kings (40-27-11-4, 7th) vs. Colorado Avalanche (45-28-8-1, 2nd) Schedule: Thu., Sat., Mon., Tue., April 25*, 27*, 29* (*-if necessary, best of seven) Season series: Tied, 2-2 Series preview: The Avalanche needed seven games to defeat the Kings in the second round last year. Peter Forsberg is back, but Colorado may have to go without injured forward Milan Hejduk. Still, the Avalanche has a lot of weapons. Joe Sakic always gives the Kings fits and Rob Blake and Patrick Roy will be motivated. Last year, the Kings entered the playoffs on a roll and their confidence was a key behind their impressive play. But that’s not the case this season; Los Angeles is winless over its last six road games. The Kings’ top players did not show up in some games, which they cannot afford to do against the Avalanche Late-season acquisitions: Kings--center Cliff Ronning; Col--defenseman Darius Kasparaitis Key injuries: Col--Milan Hejduk (groin). Kings--none Goaltenders’ postseason records: Kings--Felix Potvin (32-33); Col--Patrick Roy (137-80) Coaches’ postseason records: Kings--Andy Murray (7-10); Col--Bob Hartley (38-21, one cup) Fast facts: The Kings ended the regular season with an 11-game unbeaten streak at Staples Center. Without Forsberg for the whole season, Colorado scored only 212 goals to set a franchise record for fewest in a season MATCHUPS LA COL Goals 214 (16) 212 (18) Goals against 190 (6) 169 (1) Power play 20.5 (1) 17.8 (6) Penalty killing 86.4 (5) 86.9 (2) Save percentage 907 (10) 922 (1) Goals-against avg 2.29 (6) 2.04 (1) Penalty minutes 1,348 (5) 1,007 (28) Power-play goals 73 (1) 62 (5) Short-handed goals 5 (20) 7 (14) Players w/Cup titles 3 17 10+ goal scorers 6 9 Prediction: Colorado in six

*--*