KINGS CATCH THE FEVER IN PLAYOFF STYLE, THEY BEAT RED WINGS FOR FIFTH IN A ROW KINGS 3, DETROIT 2.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

DETROIT - There were eight inches of snow on the ground and even tougher sledding inside Joe Louis Arena, but nothing is intimidating the Kings right now.

Their quest for a playoff spot was fortified Friday night by defeating Detroit 3-2 for their fifth straight victory and beating the mighty Red Wings for the second time in two weeks.

The first one was a surprise blowout before the All-Star break, but this game had all the trappings of postseason hockey, the kind the Kings will see if they can bottle this momentum for the final 25 games of the season.

``I haven't been in many playoff games, but I knew I was in one tonight,'' defenseman Mattias Norstrom said. ``They came at us physically and with all the skill of a two-time Stanley Cup champion. But we don't back down anymore. We know we can play with anybody.''

Detroit got the sellout crowd of 19,983 going when it tied the game midway through the second period, but Luc Robitaille scored the Kings' third goal less than two minutes into the third. It was his 30th of the year and his sixth game-winner in the team's last nine victories.

Coach Andy Murray tried to taper his enthusiasm for beating his idol Scotty Bowman by reminding everyone that the Kings play the Buffalo Sabres tonight in the third game of their longest trip of the season.

But even Murray, who is battling the flu, had to crack a smile before boarding the team bus, saying, ``I hope they are enjoying this, this was an exciting game against a great team on a roll.''

The Red Wings also entered the game with four consecutive victories and were intent on letting muscleman Darren McCarty pound on the Kings all night. But like their win against Chicago on Wednesday, the Kings took the hits and kept on skating.

They got caught early, allowing a power-play goal by Steve Yzerman in a five-on-three situation with Norstrom and Rob Blake off the ice. But they took just two penalties in the final two periods, two less than McCarty had in the entire game.

``Again the maturity showed down the stretch,'' said Bob Corkum, who won several critical faceoffs in the final minutes. ``They were taking it to us, trying to intimidate us. But with Steph in net and a solid defense, that didn't happen.''

The Kings (28-22-7) had won their last four with goaltender Jamie Storr but decided to go with Stephane Fiset, who hadn't started since his shaky Feb. 8 loss to the Mighty Ducks.

Fiset admitted he was queasy before the game and nervous with six minutes left when Yzerman, the Red Wings' leading scorer, bore down on the Kings net. Yzerman saw an opening between Fiset's legs, ``but I closed my pads in time.''

``Even after they scored first, I relaxed because our defense has been so good,'' said Fiset, who stopped 33 of 35 shots. ``Detroit didn't get any second shots and that is all a goalie can asked for. This team played great in front of me.''

Trailing 1-0 after one period, the Kings scored twice during a 54-second stretch early in the second. Ian Laperriere, among the league leaders in penalty minutes (155), took his linebacker's approach by beating Chris Osgood before crashing into the Red Wings' net.

Moments later, Bryan Smolinski fed Glen Murray in the slot and Murray beat Osgood for his 20th goal of the season.

Detroit outshot the Kings and held them to 0 for 7 on the power play. But they also lost Sergei Fedorov early in the third period when he suffered a sprained left knee and bruised right hand crashing into the boards with Corkum.

Most nights it's the Red Wings doing the hitting, but they were so frustrated by the end, Brendan Shanahan received a misconduct penalty for yelling at the referees after the game.

``We just have to keep this up,'' Robitaille said. ``We know we can get where we want to go.''

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Photo:

Kings goalie Stephane Fiset, who hadn't started since Feb. 8, stops a shot by Detroit's Darren McCarty.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press