READY AND WAITING MURRAY: VICTORY MEANS GAME 7.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - Always the motivator, Kings coach Andy Murray scrawled just one message for his team on the dressing-room bulletin board before a team meeting Wednesday morning.

``Win Thursday and we will be playing Game 7 on Monday,'' Murray wrote.

Murray's theory is that if the Kings win Game 5 tonight at the Pepsi Center, they would win Game 6 at home Saturday and force a seventh and deciding game Monday.

It's similar to the message Murray espoused heading into Game 5 in the second round last season, and the Kings responded by winning the next two games before falling to the Avalanche in Game 7. It's a leap of faith, but the Kings don't have any other choice than to believe they can beat the defending Stanley Cup champions three times in a row.

``It's a tough road ahead of us,'' defenseman and team captain Mattias Norstrom said, ``but our focus going into the series was on winning four games, so our goal hasn't changed. It's going to be tough, but we have a team capable of winning three straight. These are desperate times and that's what we have to show (tonight).''

The Kings also have to show the ability to slow down the pace of the game to a level with which they are more comfortable, the ability to make smart decisions on defense and not give the Avalanche excessive good scoring chances, and the ability to create traffic in front of Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy.

Roy faced 32 shots in the Game 4 shutout out of the Kings on Tuesday but made mostly routine saves. The Kings must limit Roy's vision and score ``ugly goals,'' as defenseman Mathieu Schneider said. If Roy can see the shot, chances are he will stop it, so the Kings must create screens in front of him and pounce on rebounds.

``Patrick was on top of his game (in Game 4),'' forward Eric Belanger said. ``Everything was hitting him in the chest, and when that happens, it's because a goalie is playing the angles well. It seemed like every time we took a shot there was nothing there and he was getting the rebounds to the outside.''

The Kings have played four solid games but won just one of them. They must find a way to elevate their game once again, get Jason Allison and Ziggy Palffy as involved in the offense as they were in Game 3, and avoid playing at a fast pace, which favors the Avalanche.

A methodical style that emphasizes defense plays into the Kings' strategy, but so far in the series the teams have traded scoring chances at a remarkable pace.

``I don't think either team wants to play that way,'' Murray said. ``It's too risky and you're really rolling the dice. If you get in the mindset that you're going to score five goals on Patrick Roy, you're going to have to give something up to get that, and we can't afford to trade chances with them.''

Roy gave up three goals in each of the first three games in the series but made no mistakes in Game 4, when the play of Kings goaltender Felix Potvin provided the Avalanche no margin for error. One mistake by Roy in that game and the Kings might have returned to Denver with the series tied 2-2.

Now, they face elimination even though they have been outscored by just four goals in their three losses. The Kings can draw on their experience from last season's series against Colorado, as well as the way they rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Detroit in the first round, but they acknowledge it's a massive task.

``We've been in this situation before and responded well,'' Schneider said. ``If there's one thing this team has done well throughout the season, it's not quit. We've played our best hockey with our backs against the wall and I don't think this will be an exception.''

Kings vs. Colorado

Today, 6:30 p.m.

FSN2

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(1 -- 2 -- color) Mathieu Schneider (left) and the Kings must win to stay alive, while Shaquille O'Neal (right) and the Lakers can all but put Portland away.

Photo illustration by Shane Kidder/Daily News