KINGS DETERMINED TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP IT'S DO-OR-DONE TIME IN CONFERENCE SEMIFINAL SERIES.

Byline: Karen Crouse Staff Writer

DENVER - Kings wing Nelson Emerson said he was nervous and this was 31 hours before the opening faceoff in tonight's Western Conference semifinal series-deciding game between the Kings and the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.

He wasn't alone. The Kings could shake their arms and legs all they wanted during a crisp practice Tuesday at their practice facility in El Segundo, but they couldn't shake their Game 7 jitters.

Now they know how Monarchos must have felt on the eve of his Kentucky Derby duel with heavily favored Point Given. If the Derby is the most exciting two minutes in sports, Game 7 of a hockey playoff series is surely the most exciting spectacle in sports.

``It's a great nervousness,'' Emerson said.

The Avalanche could be forgiven for not seeing it that way. Game 7s are the bane of Colorado's excellence. The Avalanche has lost the last three series in which it has been extended to the limit, to Dallas in the Western Conference finals in 1999 and 2000 and to Edmonton in the first round in 1998.

A loss tonight in front of a home crowd with mile-high expectations would be devastating to a Colorado team that was skating with the swagger of the Stanley Cup front-runner it was widely perceived to be just last week.

``To be honest, they do have the pressure to win,'' Kings forward Ian Laperriere said. ``They've been talking about winning the Cup since training camp. We were just talking about trying to make the playoffs.''

The Kings rode a sizzling stretch run to the No. 7 playoff seed and rebounded from a two-games-to-none deficit against Detroit in the first round and a 3-1 series deficit in this round. The Kings would appear to have more lives than their goaltender, Felix ``The Cat'' Potvin.

Having come this far, the Kings are determined to keep going. After going eight years between second-round appearances, they can't be sure when they'll be this close to the third round again.

``You have to think that the way they've played the last couple of games that our players care a great deal,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``Because there were so many reasons for us just to slide out the back door in Colorado and come back home after Game 5 and say, 'Well, we beat the Red Wings.' That type of thing. It took some real caring to get to this point. That's why we believe the team will play the same way in Game 7.''

The Kings won Games 1 and 5 at the Pepsi Center before posting the first win of the series on their home ice, in double overtime in Game 6.

``We know we can win in their building,'' Murray said. ``And I think just as importantly, the Avalanche players know we can win there, too. They expect us to play hard. It should be our objective not to disappoint them.''

Tonight's game is proof there's more than one way to set the banquet table for a feast. The Kings and the Avalanche, after all, are as different as ground beef and filet mignon.

Murray conceded as much, saying, ``At the start of the year, if you put our lineup on paper and said with this lineup you'd be going to a seventh game with the Colorado Avalanche in the second round of the playoffs, I don't know that people wouldn't have said, 'What are you smoking?' ''

Colorado has the best all-around player in the league in Peter Forsberg, the probable league MVP in Joe Sakic, three of the league's best defensemen in Ray Bourque, Rob Blake and Adam Foote and a sure-fire Hall of Fame goalie in Patrick Roy. The Kings have Potvin and a roomful of players ready for their closeups.

Potvin has stopped the last 82 shots he has faced en route to holding the Avalanche scoreless for the last 164 minutes. And 12 Kings have scored at least one goal in the 12 playoff games, with another four picking up at least one assist.

``That's been the story for us,'' said general manager Dave Taylor. ``It has been a team effort. The focus hasn't been on any one person.''

But of course. As any savvy cook on a shoestring budget knows, that's the great thing about ground beef; a few pounds can be stretched to fill a few days' worth of menus with no one being the wiser.

``We're trying to balance their offense, their skill, by the way we're moving our players around,'' Murray said. ``We're trying to create situations where it gives us more with less. We may not have as many skilled guys as they've got, but we're trying to use them in a way like it looks like we've got more.''

Ziggy Palffy is a perfect example. Murray played him 32 minutes, 48 seconds, on Sunday. Forward Bryan Smolinski, a terrific two-way player, logged a team-high 42 shifts. Glen Murray played 39 shifts and Jozef Stumpel 37.

The Kings are creating offense with their defense, as was borne out in dramatic fashion Sunday, in the third minute of the second overtime when Emerson pilfered the puck from Peter Forsberg in the Kings' zone and got a pass to Smolinski, who scored on a 50-foot knuckler.

The Kings are checking well and controlling the puck in their end. They are doing everything excellent teams do, so why is it all they keep hearing is how poor Colorado's execution has been?

``I'm having a tough time reading this disaster stuff coming out of Colorado right now,'' Murray said. ``They won the President's Cup. They won their first round in four games. Give us a little bit of credit. They're playing a pretty good team right now. We're playing pretty good hockey.''

The Avalanche played superb hockey during the regular season, compiling the league's best record and securing home ice throughout the playoffs.

``They've earned the right to have a Game 7 at home,'' Murray said. ``I don't think they necessarily wanted to have it, but it's there now.''

NHL PLAYOFFS: KINGS vs. COLORADO

Today at 7 p.m.; Fox Sports Net

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Photo:

(color) The Kings' Glen Murray, left, is congratulated by defenseman Nelsom Emerson after game-winning goal Sunday night.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer