KINGS NOTEBOOK: HURT YZERMAN HELD OUT AGAIN.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

Apparently, the Detroit Red Wings also resisted the temptation to bring Gordie Howe out of retirement.

The Red Wings decided to scratch Steve Yzerman for Monday's Game 6 against the Kings, even though they had seriously considered playing their captain with a serious ankle injury.

Yzerman skated with the Red Wings in pregame warmups but was announced as scratched less than 10 minutes later. Yzerman hurt the ankle in Game 1 and has not played since. His return was actually considered somewhat likely before the game.

``We told our guys that (Yzerman) could play,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said Tuesday morning. ``I'm really not concerned about who's dressed for them as much as who plays well for us. That's the approach we're taking.

Brendan Shanahan, who broke his foot in Game 1, did not play Tuesday after a painful and poor effort in Game 5.

--Nothing big: Murray didn't have any grand speeches or motivational ploys for his team before the morning skate Monday.

Murray kept his words brief before he sent the players onto the ice at their El Segundo training facility. Instead, he showed them a video with selected shifts from Game 5.

``The first thing we did was look at six terrible clips,'' Murray said. ``I'm sure the guys were expecting to see our goals and our hits, but right away we threw on six clips where we just made poor plays and poor decisions.

``We went right after them with that and then said, 'This is what you will need to do.' We didn't show any of our goals, we just showed our hard- working shifts and the things we need to do in order to be successful.''

In his brief talk, however, Murray stressed positives to the players.

``We simply said that four or five times this year, there were people who were ready to read us our last rites, and that they had earned the right to play this game, so enjoy it,'' Murray said.

``We told them, 'Play hard and have some fun. You've earned the right to play this game.' ''

--Tough trio: The Kings' biggest challenge in this series has been trying to find a way to control the Red Wings' top line of center Igor Larionov, left winger Vyacheslav Kozlov and right winger Sergei Fedorov.

Larionov (one goal, three assists), Kozlov (four goals, one assist) and Fedorov (two goals, five assists) have created matchup problems all series.

``They hang onto the puck and they don't like to shoot it in,'' Murray said. ``You have to be solid against them in the neutral zone.

``When the three of them are playing together, they're not playing on two different lines. That's one way to look at it. Can you contain them better if they're on one line? I don't know.''

--Modry still in: For the second consecutive game, Murray chose to keep injured defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky out of the lineup in favor of a healthy Jaroslav Modry. Visnovsky injured his hand early in Game 4 and did not play Saturday in Detroit.

``I think he's probably close to playing,'' Murray said of Visnovsky. ``He could have played Saturday, but we have a healthy body in Modry who has played most of the year and played well, so we'll play Modry.''

Modry does not have a point in three games this series, but Murray doesn't feel as though the team misses much offensively on the power play with Modry.

``I think he comes in very strong from the point, just like Lubo does, and he moves the puck well,'' Murray said. ``Maybe he's not as big a threat one-on-one as Visnovsky. Modry's more likely to give the puck to somebody then come into the zone and get somebody to give it back.''

--Doesn't matter: Murray was asked before the game if he was pleased that two veteran referees, Terry Gregson and Don Koharski, had been assigned to the game.

``If they're good,'' Murray said. ``We're prepared in most games to expect three or four penalties. If you play hard, that's probably what you should expect.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

STEVE YZERMAN

He skated with the Red Wings in pregame warmups but was scratched less than 10 minutes later.

Box: AT A GLANCE: WESTERN FIRST ROUND