Top Line Is Missing One Piece

One-third of their top line was missing Thursday night when the Kings took the ice for Game 5 against the Colorado Avalanche.

Left wing Adam Deadmarsh, who had combined with center Jason Allison and right wing Ziggy Palffy for seven of the Kings’ nine goals and nine of their 15 assists in the first four games of the series, stayed home in Manhattan Beach after suffering a strained neck Tuesday night in Game 4.

“Adam’s a fierce competitor and he wants to be in the lineup more than anything,” King Coach Andy Murray said before Game 5, “so obviously he’s not feeling real good about the fact that he’s not capable of playing tonight.”

The Kings planned for Deadmarsh to accompany them to Denver, but with his neck still stiff about an hour before their Wednesday afternoon flight and no chance that he could play, they opted to have him treated by a specialist in Los Angeles.

Second-line winger Cliff Ronning, who sat out Game 4 because of a possible concussion, also did not make the trip.

With Deadmarsh sidelined, Murray brought back rookie Jaroslav Bednar, who played in the first two games of the series before he was benched. The Czech winger started on the first line, but Murray also tried Steve Heinze, Craig Johnson and Mikko Eloranta with Allison and Palffy.

Deadmarsh, who suffered a series of nagging, minor injuries in the first two months of the season, had played in 63 consecutive games. He accumulated a career-high 62 points in the regular season, among them 29 goals, and had one goal and three assists in the first three games against the Avalanche.

He was injured early in the third period of Tuesday night’s 1-0 loss while diving headfirst into the end boards trying to check Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote. His head at first glanced off Foote’s left leg, perhaps partially cushioning the blow.

“Of course it’s scary,” King center Bryan Smolinski said. “Any time a guy goes in head-first like that, it’s awful. Thank God he’s OK and he’s only got a sore neck.”

Deadmarsh’s availability for Saturday’s game is undetermined.

Ronning’s availability is day to day.

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Avalanche right wing Milan Hejduk, who accounted for 21 goals and 44 points in 62 regular-season games after registering 41 and 79 in 80 games last season, did not play Thursday night. But he is close to returning to the lineup after sitting out since Feb. 28 because of an abdominal strain.

“Basically on a day-to-day basis we’re going to evaluate his situation, and when the medical staff feels he’s ready to go, he’ll be in the lineup,” Coach Bob Hartley said before the game.

“We’re not there yet. Things look very promising, but let’s stay calm and take one game at a time.”