On the Ropes, Kings Hang Tough

Once the Kings got Colorado into overtime, they knew that they had the defending Stanley Cup champions right where they wanted them.

Displaying the character that has been a trademark under Coach Andy Murray, the short-handed Kings gutted one out Thursday night with a 1-0 victory over the Avalanche in front of a standing-room only crowd at Pepsi Center.

Winger Craig Johnson will go down in the books as the player who scored the winning goal of Game 5, but it was truly a team effort for the Kings, who trail, 3-2, in the best-of-seven series. The teams will meet again for Game 6 Saturday afternoon at Staples Center.

“We’re back against the wall and we’re not going to go down without a fight,” said forward Bryan Smolinski. “We know what they are throwing at us. It’s not a big secret.”

With forwards Adam Deadmarsh and Cliff Ronning home with injuries, the Kings lost another top-line player in the first period when defenseman Philippe Boucher left the game because of an eye injury after being hit by a puck.

But instead of falling apart with so many key players down, the Kings tightened their chin straps and gave it everything they had.

“Andy [Murray] did a good job with the lines,” Smolinski said. “He got everybody into the game and rolled the lines a couple of times. He got some key matchups that worked.”

In the playoffs, the Kings have won five overtime games in a row, dating to last year’s postseason run that included two overtime victories over Colorado.

“We have lots of pride in our locker room and maybe they think it’s going to be easy,” said defenseman Jaroslav Modry, who gave Johnson the pass to set up his winning goal. “But every game is different. We know that we will show up and battle as tough as we can. We will play as hard as we can every single game, every single shift. That’s our motto. We’ve been doing it all year. We’ve been in tight games since Christmas.”

The Kings’ season could easily be over today if not for the play of goaltender Felix Potvin, who was at his best down the stretch, finishing with 26 saves.

“It’s a lot of fun, especially when you’re on the winning side,” Potvin said. “It’s not much fun on the other side. For us, it’s do or die. I give credit to that line that was on the ice for OT. They were really buzzing and throwing pucks at the net and that’s usually how you win.”

Just as they did in the first four games of the series, the Kings matched Colorado blow for blow.

Knowing that Colorado Coach Bob Hartley had the final line change because the Avalanche was at home, Murray threw a few twists at him with his lines.

Murray started the game by having his players keep their time on the ice short, and Colorado had trouble adjusting in the first period. Without Deadmarsh, Murray opened with Jaroslav Bednar skating with Jason Allison and Ziggy Palffy, but he didn’t stick with that trio.

At times, Steve Heinze or Smolinski and sometimes even Ian Laperriere skated on the Kings’ No. 1 line.

“We played a lot of players tonight, moving guys in and out,” Murray said. “It was the players who really made the difference. It was a game where the two goalies just battled so hard against each other.”

In the first period, the Kings had a couple of promising scoring chances, Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy was up to the challenge.

Smolinski had his rebound attempt from the left circle stuffed by Roy nearly six minutes into the game. About two minutes later, Boucher had a blast stopped, followed by Palffy’s back-hander from the slot that was smacked away by the Avalanche goalie.

In the second period, the Kings didn’t get the same type of looks, as Colorado’s defense clamped down. After getting eight shots in the first, the Kings had only one over the first 10 minutes of the second and finished with only five in the period.

While the King offense was a little stagnant, Colorado’s attack began to pick up steam. But what Roy did to the Kings in the first period, Potvin did the same to the Avalanche in the second. Colorado’s Alex Tanguay, Steven Reinprecht and Joe Sakic each had great chances to score.

In an evenly played third period, the Kings seemed to gain more confidence with each save made by Potvin, setting the stage for Johnson’s heroics in overtime.

“We have a lot of heart and our team plays hard,” Johnson said. “But the key was the play of Felix. He was outstanding tonight. He played an unbelievable game and he kept us in.”