KINGS LEARN LESSON THE HARD WAY L.A. SEES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AVS, HAVE NOTS IN LAST-SECOND LOSS COLORADO 4, KINGS 3.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

DENVER - Adam Deadmarsh looks at the Kings and the Colorado Avalanche and says the difference is clear.

It's not the Stanley Cup rings, which the Avs won last year after trading Deadmarsh to L.A. It's not all the consecutive sellouts or NHL superstars Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy.

``It's the way they never give up on a game, never give back a lead,'' Deadmarsh said Saturday after scoring two goals in a 4-3 loss at Pepsi Center. ``If we want to get to that level, those are the things we have to do. And we aren't doing it right now.''

For the second consecutive game, the Kings blew a lead in the third period. Deadmarsh salvaged Thursday's 3-2 victory against Nashville by scoring with 13.2 seconds remaining in regulation. This time, Deadmarsh couldn't save the team when Colorado came back with two goals in the third period, including the game-winner by Ville Nieminen with 1:09 left.

The bigger picture shows Saturday marked the first time in two months the Kings (30-22-9-4) did not come away with at least point in a road game. And they came in against Colorado just one point behind San Jose for the lead in the Pacific Division.

But a closer look shows the Kings gave away the game after bad passes by Mattias Norstrom and Mathieu Schneider set up Colorado's second and third goals.

``They are good enough on their own without us needing to help them,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``Two of our best players made poor decisions and it hurt us.''

The loss gave the Kings a 1-2 trip, although they earned a point in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime loss at Dallas.

They also got three more goals by the top line of Deadmarsh, Jason Allison and Ziggy Palffy. Allison scored just 34 seconds into the third period when he beat Roy. Coming off a Deadmarsh goal in the final minute of the second period, the Kings looked like they might have the momentum for another victory.

``We seemed to lose our intensity after taking a lead,'' Schneider said. ``We have to keep pushing the opponent at that point, not sit back. You do that and you'll pay.''

After Deadmarsh gave the Kings a 1-0 lead with an unassisted goal at 12:09 of the first, the club started to do the little things wrong.

With the Kings on the power play midway through the second period, Allison fired a long shot at Roy. Former King Rob Blake made the stop and tried to feed the puck to Adam Foote along with left wing.

Schneider was the only King back on defense and left his feet trying to make the stop. The puck got through and Foote took off for the Kings' net. Schneider recovered, but it was too late. Foote beat Felix Potvin with a short-handed goal that tied the game 1-1.

``We have (Jaroslav Modry) down low on the power play,'' Schneider said. ``I'm back there and 99 percent of the time I stop that puck. This time it hopped over my stick.''

On the Avs' second goal, Schneider tried to clear the puck from behind the Kings' net. But Nieminen made the interception at the blue line and fed Sakic, who played give and go with Alex Tanguay before scoring at 15:48 of the second period.

Deadmarsh tied the game again, this time on the power play with just 40 seconds left in the second period. He was parked in front of Roy, and Allison's pass struck a skate and went in. He now has seven goals in seven games since the Olympic break and a team-high 25 overall.

Allison gave the Kings a 3-2 lead 34 seconds into the third when his wraparound pass struck the skate of Colorado center Stephane Yelle and sailed into the Avs' net.

``They played well, a very disciplined game,'' Roy said of the Kings. ``They checked very well and certainly had a lot of traffic around the net.''

But none of that seemed to matter with just over seven minutes left.

Colorado was pressuring Potvin. Norstrom tried to clear the puck but passed up the middle and right to Sakic, who was playing his 1,000th career game. Sakic stopped and fired. Potvin made the stop, but Mike Keane banged home the rebound to tie the game.

``Where should he have passed it?'' Murray said. ``Anywhere but where he did.''

Deadmarsh said the Kings weren't playing for a tie at that point, but they provided little offensive pressure the rest of the way.

With 1:09 left, Blake fired from the top of the right faceoff circle and struck Nieminen on the skate. Nieminen, who took over on the Avs' second line after Deadmarsh was traded, regrouped and scored.

``We didn't let that hurt us Thursday when it could have,'' Deadmarsh said. ``Tonight, we weren't so lucky. This is Colorado, after all.''

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Colorado's Mike Keane beats Kings goalie Felix Potvin late in the third period Saturday for the game-winning goal.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press