Goal(ie) Is Different for These Kings

Once more, with feeling . . .

Starting Wednesday at Detroit, the Kings will face the Red Wings in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, as they did last spring. The Kings will carry into this series a long playoff losing streak, as they did last spring. The Red Wings will have home-ice advantage, as they did last spring.

But if the general theme is similar, many key details of this rematch are different.

Thanks to the revival of Felix Potvin, the Kings’ goaltending is more solid than it was a year ago and both Stephane Fiset and Jamie Storr played in the team’s four-game loss to Detroit. The Red Wings’ goaltending is less certain, with former King Manny Legace having pushed Chris Osgood all season. In addition, the Red Wings have struggled to score and have dealt with a series of injuries.

Then again, the second-seeded Red Wings have 49 victories--11 more than the seventh-seeded Kings--and 111 points, 19 more than the Kings. Last year, the Red Wings were seeded fourth, with 48 victories and 108 points, to 39 victories and 94 points for the Kings.

“The top four teams in the conference are really deep and experienced,” Potvin said. “It’s going to be a battle, but I think our guys have held up well the last month, under a lot of pressure. . . .

“They’re the favorite, for sure. On our side we know we beat them the last game we played [6-3 March 3 at Staples Center]. We can’t focus on those games. We’ve got to focus on Game No. 1.”

The opener will be Wednesday, followed by Game 2 Saturday afternoon at Detroit. In an unusual turnaround dictated by conflicts at Staples Center, Game 3 will be played Sunday in Los Angeles, at 8:30 p.m. Game 4 will be April 18 at Staples Center. Game 5, if necessary, would be April 21 at Detroit, Game 6 would be April 23 at Staples Center and Game 7 would be April 25 at Detroit.

The Saturday-Sunday jump across three time zones happened for several reasons. The Lakers booked Staples Center on Sunday for a game that will be televised on NBC at 2:30 p.m., and that can’t be changed. The Clippers have a home game Monday and the Lakers’ regular-season finale is Tuesday. The NHL didn’t want to delay the Kings’ first home playoff game until Wednesday, because that would have prolonged the series.

While the late Sunday game will inconvenience many fans, the Kings aren’t angry because they feel the older Red Wings might find it more taxing to travel and play back-to-back games.

If that doesn’t work, the Kings always can paint the visitors’ locker room before the games at Staples, a ploy used by Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman several years ago to annoy the St. Louis Blues. But the Red Wings probably would find a way to get around that too.

While the Colorado Avalanche made headlines by acquiring Rob Blake and compiling the NHL’s best record, the Red Wings quietly amassed their second-highest point total in club history and set a club record for the longest home unbeaten streak. The Red Wings haven’t lost at Joe Louis Arena in this calendar year, having begun a 17-0-2 streak Dec. 31.

“It’s meaningless,” forward Martin Lapointe said. “If we don’t win the Cup, it doesn’t mean squat.”

With a team that became geriatric when it reacquired center Igor Larionov from Florida, the Red Wings figure this might be their last shot at adding a third Cup championship to those they won in 1997 and 1998. They lost to Colorado in the second round each of the last two seasons.

They have reasons for optimism: Sergei Fedorov has had an outstanding season, with 32 goals and 69 points, even though he hasn’t scored a goal in 10 games, and winger Brendan Shanahan (31 goals, 76 points) had his best season since 1996-97. Defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom (15 goals, 71 points) is considered the front runner for the Norris Trophy.

However, Chris Chelios has played only 24 games because of knee surgery and an injured left thumb and might not return until late in the first round. Rugged winger Darren McCarty is questionable because of an ankle injury.

The Kings have lost 12 consecutive playoff games since they won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals on June 1, 1993. But players think that’s irrelevant.

“Something that’s going to help us going into the playoffs is we’ve been playing big games the last few months,” defenseman Mathieu Schneider said. “You look at Vancouver and some of the other teams, and they just started to play desperate hockey the last month or so. . . .

“This is a dangerous team. We’re able to get a lot of goals and get goals at key times. The problems we had were keeping the puck out of the net, and Felix solved that. We made some key changes on our penalty killing and we all raised our game as a team. We’re better defensively and a better two-way hockey team than we were earlier this year.”

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Because the Kings could secure a charter plane only for a 10 a.m. departure today, they planned to practice at 8:30 a.m. and fly to Detroit. Since they traveled from Calgary on Sunday after their regular-season finale and didn’t practice, Coach Andy Murray didn’t want to go two days without practice. He also said the 8:30 session would approximate the ice time they will have in Detroit, which is on Eastern time, and will help players acclimate to the time difference.

Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky (bruised knee) and centers Bryan Smolinski (back spasms) and Ian Laperriere (concussion) were expected to skate and will be evaluated after practice.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Kings vs. Red Wings

BEST OF SEVEN

* Wednesday: at Detroit, 4 p.m., ESPN

* Saturday: at Detroit, 10 a.m. Channel 7

* Sunday: at Kings, 8:30 p.m., ESPN2

* April 18: at Kings, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

IF NECESSARY

* April 21: at Detroit, noon, Channel 7

* April 23: at Kings, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

* April 25: at Detroit, 4 p.m., ESPN

All times Pacific

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

First-Round Playoff Pairings

WESTERN CONFERENCE

DETROIT VS. KINGS

Wednesday: at Detroit, 4 p.m.

Saturday: at Detroit, 10 a.m.

Sunday: at KINGS, 8:30 p.m.

April 18: at KINGS, 7:30 p.m.

April 21: *at Detroit, noon.

April 23: *at KINGS, 7:30 p.m.

April 25: *at Detroit, 4 p.m.

COLORADO VS. VANCOUVER

Friday: at Colorado, 4:30 p.m.

Sunday: at Colorado, 11 a.m.

Tuesday: at Vancouver, 4:30 p.m.

May 13: at Vancouver, 4:30 p.m.

May 16: *at Colorado, 11 a.m.

May 18: *at Vancouver, 4:30 p.m.

May 20: *at Colorado, 5 p.m.

ST. LOUIS VS. DALLAS

Thursday: at Dallas, 5 p.m.

Saturday: at Dallas, 4:30 p.m.

Monday: at St. Louis, 4:30 p.m.

May 12: at St. Louis, 4:30 p.m.

May 15: *at Dallas, 4:30 p.m.

May 17: *at St. Louis, 4:30 p.m.

May 19: *at Dallas, 6 p.m.

DALLAS VS. EDMONTON

Wednesday: at Dallas, 5 p.m.

Saturday: at Dallas, 1 p.m.

Sunday: at Edmonton, 5 p.m.

April 17: at Edmonton, 6 p.m.

April 19: *at Dallas, 5 p.m.

April 21: *at Edmonton, 4 p.m.

April 23: *at Dallas, 4 p.m.

*if necessary

Eastern Conference

NEW JERSEY VS. CAROLINA

Thursday: at New Jersey, 4:30 p.m.

Sunday: at New Jersey, noon

April 17: at Carolina, 4:30 p.m.

April 18: at Carolina, 4:30 p.m.

April 20: *at New Jersey, 4:30 p.m.

April 22: *at Carolina, noon.

April 24: *at New Jersey, 4:30 p.m.

OTTAWA VS. CAROLINA

Friday: at Ottawa, 7 p.m.

Saturday: at Ottawa, 7 p.m.

April 16y: at Toronto, 7 p.m.

April 18: at Toronto, 7 p.m.

April 20: *at Ottawa, 7 p.m.

April 22: *at Toronto, 7 p.m.

April 24: *at Ottawa, 7 p.m.

WASHINGTON VS. PITTSBURGH

Thursday: at Washington, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday: at Washington, 10 a.m.

April 16: at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.

April 18: at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.

April 21: *at Washington, noon

April 23: *at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.

April 24: *at Washington, 4 p.m.

PHILADELPHIA VS. BUFFALO

Wednesday: at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.

Saturday: at Philadelphia, 10 a.m.

April 16: at Buffalo, 4:30 p.m.

April 17: at Buffalo, 4 p.m.

April 19: *at Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m.

April 21: *at Buffalo, noon

April 23: *at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.

*if necessary; all times Pacific