DEAD WINGS DEADMARSH DELIVERS DECIDING GOALS; KINGS TO FACE COLORADO NEXT KINGS 3, DETROIT 2.

Byline: Karen Crouse Staff Writer

With the help of one of their newest players, the Kings shed their old skin Monday and slithered into the second round of the playoffs.

The team that for eight long years has been unable to shake the word ``if'' - if Marty McSorley hadn't used a curved stick, if Bruce McNall hadn't run afoul of the law, if Wayne Gretzky hadn't been traded, if Rob Blake had been signed for the rest of his career - cleared the Staples Center air of all such ambiguities.

Adam Deadmarsh, acquired in a trade in February that sent Kings fan favorite Blake to Colorado, scored the game-tying goal midway through the third period and the game-winner on Jozef Stumpel's rebound in the fifth minute of overtime for a 3-2 victory.

``It's just awesome,'' said Luc Robitaille, the lone King left from the 1993 playoff roster. ``What a great feeling this is for the whole team.''

With the victory, the Kings completed a fanciful comeback that began after a humbling 4-0 loss in Detroit in Game 2 left the Kings contemplating their third opening-round elimination in the past four years.

Instead, they will face Colorado in the second round, starting Thursday in Denver. A fitting matchup, that, given the February swap. All it did was breathe new life into the Kings' season. They are 17-4-5-2 with Deadmarsh and or Miller in the lineup.

``I wanted to play Colorado,'' Deadmarsh said. ``I'm excited to play them.''

The feeling probably isn't mutual. Who better than the Avalanche, after all, to know how perfect a fit Deadmarsh's gritty style is for playoff hockey? In Detroit he is referred to as ``The Red Wings Killer'' in deference to his 25 points in 28 career playoff games against them.

He lived up to his nickname on this night. From the first goal to the last, he left his fingerprints all over the scoring sheet. Deadmarsh assisted on Stumpel's power-play goal in the third minute of the first.

The capacity crowd, well aware the Kings had ridden the momentum of scoring first to a victory in the previous two games, got so loud the officials said they couldn't hear their own whistles.

Kris Draper was whistled for cross-checking Kings rookie Eric Belanger in front of the Detroit net with 8:39 left in the first and 1:09 later it appeared the Kings had extended their lead to 2-0.

Mathieu Schneider's shot from the top of the left faceoff circle hit the crossbar and skittered past Detroit goalie Chris Osgood at roughly the same time Detroit rookie Jiri Fischer cross-checked Robitaille into the net.

The goal was waved off, the officials having discerned the puck was swept across the goal by Robitaille's skate as he was falling.

``That should have been either a goal or a penalty,'' Robitaille fumed in an interview with a television reporter as he came off the ice at the end of the period.

Once play resumed, the Kings' 1-0 lead evaporated like the steam coming out of Robitaille's ears.

Kings enforcer Stu Grimson took an utterly avoidable high-sticking penalty in the fourth minute and the Red Wings' power-play unit - the most productive of this young postseason - capitalized without even taking a shot.

Kings goaltender Felix Potvin swept the puck over the goal line with his stick in a chaotic sequence in front of the net. Pat Verbeek, the nearest Red Wing, was credited with the game-tying score.

Darren McCarty gave the Red Wings their first lead in two games in the seventh minute of the second with his first playoff goal. Detroit clung to its lead as if it were a life preserver, which, of course, it was.

Osgood, who easily was Detroit's best player in Game 5, was sharp again on this night. In the minutes after McCarty's goal, Osgood turned away two separate breakaways, by Ziggy Palffy and Deadmarsh.

Deadmarsh didn't quit, though, and as a result the Kings are still alive.

The No. 7-seeded team outlasted the No. 2 seed. The Portland Trail Blazers should take note.

``This is huge for the organization, no doubt,'' said Potvin, who finished with 26 saves. ``Any time you can beat the second-best team in the league like that, it's a great accomplishment. We can celebrate (Monday), but today it's back to work, because now we get the best team in the league.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Adam Deadmarsh, right, celebrates with Jozef Stumpel after scoring the tying goal in the third period Monday night.

(2) The Kings' Luc Robitaille is knocked into the net by the Red Wings' Jiri Fischer during Game 6 at Staples Center.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

Box: KINGS 3, RED WINGS 2