SUDDEN LIFE KINGS FORCE GAME 6 ON JOHNSON'S GOAL IN OVERTIME KINGS 1, COLORADO 0.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

DENVER - As they did throughout the regular season and the first four games of the playoffs, the Kings battled to the very end Thursday night.

Craig Johnson deflected the puck off his skate and into the net 2:19 into overtime to keep the Kings' season alive with a 1-0 overtime victory over Colorado at Pepsi Center.

The Kings won on the road for the first time in 10 games (1-8-1) to send the series back to Staples Center for Game 6 on Saturday.

Just like Game 5 of last year's second-round series, the Kings took the Avalanche to overtime and won to force the issue. Colorado leads this series three games to two.

The Kings' Felix Potvin and Colorado's Patrick Roy combined on another masterful effort, although the Avalanche defense deserves most of the credit for limiting the Kings' scoring chances throughout regulation.

For Potvin, it was his third career playoff shutout. The goal ended Roy's scoreless streak at 153:50.

The teams' style of play seemed to reflect their standing in the series. The Kings played a more physical game intended to prevent mistakes that could cost them the game, the series and the season, while the Avalanche had less to lose and tried to push the pace as fast as possible.

Both teams had chances though.

The closest was when Joe Sakic nearly blew open an intense third period after 5:35 as he skated down the right side and ripped a shot from less than five feet inside the boards. Potvin came out to cut down the angle, but the shot rose over his shoulder and off the crossbar as the Kings averted disaster.

Colorado continued to put traffic in front of Potvin's net over the next five minutes, and even paired Sakic and Peter Forsberg on the same line to increase scoring chances.

Two potential game-changing penalties were called in the latter half of the period. First, Kings defenseman Mathieu Schneider elbowed Colorado's Alex Tanguay in the corner with 7:43 remaining. But 73 seconds into that advantage, Forsberg was called for roughing Mattias Norstrom at center ice.

The Kings had a power play for 1:13 but could not score and tense play in the final minutes led up to overtime. The Avalanche outshot the Kings 25-18 in regulation.

In the first period, the Kings suffered a loss when defenseman Philippe Boucher left the game with an injured right eye and did not return. With five minutes left in the period, a slap shot by Darius Kasparaitis deflected off Potvin's stick and hit Boucher in the face.

Boucher was able to skate off the ice under his own power and X-rays taken during the game were negative.

Both teams started tentatively, not surprising given how much was at stake, with few good scoring chances in the first 10 minutes of the period. In one spurt of end-to-end action, Bryan Smolinski had a good shot at a rebound, but the Avalanche pushed the puck to the other end and Joe Sakic just missed on a rebound.

Colorado went on the power play 12:07 into the period because of a retaliatory play by Kings forward Brad Chartrand. Avalanche forward Dan Hinote leveled Chartrand in front of the Colorado bench, and Chartrand got to his feet and shoved Hinote to the ground and draw an interference penalty.

The Avalanche had two scoring chances on the power play but could not score, although it was able to maintain pace of the game. The Kings' scoring chances were infrequent and isolated, while the Avalanche frequently buzzed around Potvin's net and created multiple chances on the same offensive rush. Potvin stopped 11 shots.

Colorado went back on the power play with 25 seconds remaining in the first period when Schneider hooked Colorado forward Steven Reinprecht in front of the Kings net to prevent a scoring chance.

That power play passed without a scoring chance, but the Kings could not manage any offense early in the period and didn't record their first shot on goal until four minutes had elapsed.

The Kings went on the power play 8:22 into the period when Hinote backed into Potvin and received a goaltender interference penalty.

Midway though the power play, Jaroslav Bednar went strong to the net and worked the puck into the slot to Craig Johnson, but Johnson's shot was deflected wide and the Avalanche killed the rest of the penalty with relative ease.

The Kings went back on the power play with 5:07 remaining in the third, after Forsberg took a hit from Kings defenseman Aaron Miller, then skated back down the ice and leveled Miller near the boards. Forsberg went off for charging, but the Kings could not manage a single scoring chance on the power play.

Colorado's aggressive style paid off with 1:42 remaining in the period, when Reinprecht skated to the net and was tripped by Norstrom, but the Kings killed the penalty.

GAME 6

Kings vs. Colorado

Saturday, 3 p.m.

TV: Ch. 7

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy watches helplessly as the puck finds the back of the net in overtime, giving the Kings a 1-0 victory.

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

(2 -- color) Colorado's Eric Messier, foreground, expresses his frustration as the Kings celebrate.

Hyoung Chang/Denver Post

Box:

(1) GAME 6 (see text)

(2) GAME RECAP

(3) STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS