KINGS NOTEBOOK: KINGS TURN OFF AVS' POWER.

Byline: Karen Crouse Staff Writer

DENVER - Ray Bourque, Rob Blake, Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic form a Mount Rushmore of sorts. The Colorado skaters are a monument to the power play. Add Chris Drury to the mix and, goodness knows, the Avalanche power play can stone a goaltender any number of ways.

So the situation didn't look good for the Kings on Saturday when forward Adam Deadmarsh joined Jere Karalahti in the penalty box, giving the Avalanche a two-man advantage for 58 seconds with 2:32 left in the second period of Game 2 of the teams' Western Conference semifinal.

There were more than 18,000 people inside Pepsi Center but Kings penalty killers Mathieu Schneider, Kelly Buchberger and Aaron Miller felt utterly alone. They took little solace in the fact they didn't have to fend off Sakic, who was in the Colorado dressing room getting stitches in his neck.

``Your whole mind set is you're just trying not to let them get an easy goal on a back-door shot or a rebound,'' Miller said. ``You just go down and try to block whatever you can.''

The trio did just that. Buchberger blocked a shot from the point by Blake with his left skate, Miller blocked a shot from the point by Bourque and at the end of the longest minute, the trio had managed to stave off the Avalanche to keep the Kings to within one at 1-0.

``That was a lot of hard work in our end,'' Miller said. ``It's too bad we couldn't bang a couple goals in after that.''

Between the second and third periods, Kings coach Andy Murray tried to rally his troops, using Schneider, Buchberger and Miller as motivation.

``I challenged them,'' Murray said. ``I said some of you guys need to pick up your games. Just watch what those guys did on the 5-on-3 to give us a chance to win.''

The players got the message but on this afternoon too few of them were willing to pay the price physically, as Schneider, Buchberger and Miller had.

The Kings got only six shots on net in the final period - three of them by Glen Murray - and succumbed to the Avalanche 2-0, sending the best-of- seven series to L.A. with both teams having won a game.

Buchberger was feeling the effects of his effort on that penalty kill long after the danger had passed. He had a bag of ice taped to his left ankle after the game.

--Blake solid: Blake, the ex-King, had another solid game, delivering five hits and getting three shots. He is happy to be headed today to L.A. for Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series insofar as he'll be able to spend some time in Manhattan Beach with his wife Brandy, who is five months pregnant with the couple's first child.

He'd be less than honest if he said he was looking forward to his first game at Staples Center since his trade from the Kings on Feb. 21.

``I think that same nervousness I had in the first game will be there (Monday),'' Blake admitted.

How hard is it for him to play against the team whose jersey he donned for almost 12 years?

``It's so difficult,'' he said. ``I can't look the guys in the eyes right now.''

--Etc.: Ville Nieminen's power-play goal in the third minute of the second period was the Avalanche's fourth in as many games. The Avalanche has converted 2 of its 11 extra-man chances in the first two games. ... Drury picked up the second assist on Nieminen's goal to extend his point streak to four games. He has three goals and six points in that span. ... Glen Murray accounted for five of the Kings' 20 shots. ... The Kings have outhit the Avalanche in the first two games 100-69.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

AT A GLANCE: WESTERN SEMIFINALS