KINGS HIT A ROY GOALIE BLANKS L.A., WHICH IS ON BRINK OF ELIMINATION COLORADO 1, KINGS 0.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

It took four games, but Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy finally showed the Kings why his Hall of Fame induction is only a matter of time.

Roy, who had been far less than dominant in the first three games of the series, put his team on the brink of the second round with a near-perfect performance Tuesday night as the Avalanche beat the Kings 1-0 in Game 4 in front of a Staples Center-record crowd of 18,700.

Colorado leads the series 3-1 and can eliminate the Kings in Game 5 on Thursday in Denver thanks to former King Steven Reinprecht's second-period goal. In the same situation a year ago, the Kings rallied to win twice against the Avalanche before losing in Game 7.

The Kings could not manage the same spark and energy they showed in the previous night's Game 3 victory over the Avalanche, but Roy seemed more than equal to the task. He dealt with frequent traffic in front of his net and kept his composure through extended spurts of Kings offense.

Roy, who had allowed three goals in each of the three previous games, made zero mistakes and benefited from a third-period Colorado team that seemed happy to maintain the one-goal lead over the final 20 minutes. Roy recorded his 20th career playoff shutout and finished with 32 saves.

Less than two minutes after the Avalanche killed a penalty in the second period, they worked the puck in to Peter Forsberg deep in the Kings' zone. Forsberg, without any open ice to work with, passed the puck to Chris Drury, who passed it to Reinprecht at the top of the left faceoff circle.

Reinprecht, in between two Kings defensemen, fired the puck toward the far, top corner of the net. Potvin extended his glove hand, but the puck went over the glove hit the underside of the crossbar and went into the net for the 1-0 lead 5:57 into the period.

The teams had completed Game 3 less than 24 hours earlier, but the goaltenders showed few signs of fatigue early on in a fast-paced but scoreless first period. Potvin and Roy, the two players who probably had the best excuses to be tired, both turned in excellent periods and shut down several strong scoring chances.

A strong start for the Kings ended when the Avalanche went on the power play midway through the period on an Ian Laperriere hooking penalty. The Kings shut down the Avalanche with the man advantage and had a great scoring chance seconds after Laperriere left the penalty box.

The Kings worked the puck down the right side to Jason Allison, who skated hard to the net but had the puck knocked off his stick by defenseman Adam Foote.

After complaining about not getting a single power play in Game 3, the Kings went on the man advantage with 6:20 remaining in the period when Foote tied up Adam Deadmarsh and took an interference penalty. The Kings had one good chance on the power play, when Deadmarsh shot wide from close range as the penalty expired.

Just eight seconds after Foote's penalty ended, the Avalanche went on the power play again when Kings defenseman Mathieu Schneider went off for tripping. The Kings killed the penalty, and later, with eight seconds remaining, Potvin made a glove save on a slap shot by Rob Blake from just inside the blue line.

The Kings started the second period with a dominant power play when Stephane Yelle went off for goaltender interference 2:15 into the period. The Kings spent almost the entire power play in the Colorado zone and peppered Roy with five strong scoring chances but could not score.

The Kings put frequent pressure on Roy and crashed the net to create several strong scoring chances after Reinprecht's goal. But every time, Roy came through with a glove save or knocked the puck into the corner.

Potvin faced just as much pressure on the Kings' end. Twice in the last three minutes of the period, the Avalanche had point-blank shots at Potvin in front of the net, but he made acrobatic saves on both Blake and Radim Vrbata to keep Colorado's lead at 1-0 going into the third period.

Deadmarsh left the ice in the first minute of the third period after hitting his head on the glass after a missed attempt to check Foote.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Jason Allison, right, tries to wrap the puck around the net and past Colorado goalie Patrick Roy in the second period Tuesday.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(2) The Kings' Jason Allison tries to keep Colorado's Alex Tanquay (40) from getting to the puck.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

Box:

GAME RECAP