KINGS NOTEBOOK: AVS, FORSBERG IN GOOD HEALTH.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

DENVER - The last time the Kings faced Peter Forsberg, they played him so hard that afterward, he needed surgery to remove an organ.

The talented Colorado forward did not play a regular-season game because of the procedure to remove his spleen, as well as several surgeries to repair a tendon in his foot. The Avalanche knew the Kings would be gunning for Forsberg early and often Thursday night in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

``At least they can't go after my spleen,'' Forsberg said.

Colorado coach Bob Hartley knows it's part of the game. The Kings weren't out to injure Forsberg intentionally, but they wanted to test him, see how he would respond to taking a crushing check against the boards and how he would hold up over the course of an intense playoff game after his long absence from the ice.

``That's probably the natural reaction from any competitor, and that's probably what he's expecting,'' Hartley said before the game. ``I'm sure he wants to give the first body check rather than receive it, but in the past, teams took some pretty good runs at him and it never prevented him from playing his game.''

Forsberg returned to play with his normal linemates Chris Drury and Steven Reinprecht and is expected to be shadowed throughout the series by Kings defenseman Mattias Norstrom, a fellow Swede.

``It's good to see him healthy again,'' said Kings forward Adam Deadmarsh, who played with Forsberg in Colorado. ``Even if he's not (100 percent), he's still better than most of us. I know he took a long time off, but he's got enough desire and skill to overcome it.''

--Familiar look: Kings coach Andy Murray followed through on his thought to reunite the line of Jason Allison, Adam Deadmarsh and Ziggy Palffy against the Avalanche, which left two struggling offensive players, Cliff Ronning and Bryan Smolinski, to the second line with rookie Jaroslav Bednar.

``The way I see it is that they're ready to break through at the right time,'' Murray said. ``Bryan Smolinski at times last year was our best player, so I like to thing he's saving it for the playoffs.''

If Murray keeps them together, Allison, Deadmarsh and Palffy will be counted on to carry the scoring load for the Kings, but that doesn't mean their contributions will necessarily be the most important to the team.

``You look at that 0-0 game,'' Allison said, referring to Philadelphia's 1-0 overtime victory over Ottawa on Wednesday. ``There were a lot of key players who didn't make it onto the scoring sheet by blocking a shot or something.''

--Just another team: Murray said he didn't take any special motivation in playing the Avalanche, the team that eliminated the Kings in seven games last season, in this first-round series.

``I think it's not a factor,'' Murray said. ``If we had drawn any team in the conference, they are all formidable. I think more than any other year, it doesn't matter who you're playing.''

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(ran in Valley edition only) Peter Forsberg, sidelined for the entire season, returned Thursday to the Colorado Avalanche for their Stanley Cup first-round playoff game with the Kings.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press