Kings Like Their Chance

At first glance, the Kings look like decided underdogs against the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in a first-round playoff series.

They are seeded seventh in the West, the Avalanche second.

But more often than not recently, teams seeded seventh or eighth have won their opening-round series, eliminating teams seeded first or second nine times in 16 conference quarterfinals over the last four seasons. Teams seeded seventh have won six of eight.

One of those lower-seeded winners, of course, was the Kings, seeded seventh a year ago when they bumped off the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings.

And this season in the Western Conference, where only the runaway Red Wings went into the season’s final day assured of their playoff seeding, only five points separated the Avalanche from the eighth-seeded Vancouver Canucks.

So pardon King Coach Andy Murray for believing that his team should not be counted out just because it finished four points behind the Avalanche.

“We respect them as the defending Stanley Cup champions,” Murray said Monday, “but it’s our feeling that we step on the ice on equal footing with them.”

A bold statement, perhaps, but one that is not without merit.

After upsetting the Red Wings last spring, winning the final four games of a six-game series, the Kings pushed the Avalanche to Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals, and this is hardly the same Avalanche team.

While winning its eighth consecutive division championship, the Avalanche finished the regular season with 19 fewer points, seven fewer victories and 12 more losses than last season. Its production on offense fell by 58 goals, thanks in part to the absence of Peter Forsberg, who sat out the season because of various injuries, and high-scoring defenseman Raymond Bourque, who retired.

The Avalanche was outscored, 14-13, in splitting four games with the Kings, rarely getting the stellar goaltending it has come to expect from Patrick Roy, who enjoyed his best season but did not play well against the Kings.

“The fact that they’re the defending Stanley Cup champions gives them more credibility than anybody else,” Murray said, “but obviously from second to eighth place [the difference] was five points. How equal could it get? Never in the history of the game has it been that equal.

“Until somebody beats Colorado, and I hope that is us, I always think the defending Stanley Cup champions deserve to be recognized as probably returning favorites to win the Cup. But having said that, I think the point totals indicate how close the league is now and if that’s what’s happened in the past [with lower-seeded teams winning], it certainly could happen again because it’s never been as tight as it was this year.”

It has been speculated that Forsberg could return for the playoffs, but Murray doesn’t seem at all concerned by the possibility.

“He hasn’t played all year,” Murray said.

“He’s going to step right into the lineup? We’re not going to feel sorry for him if he’s in the lineup....

“I don’t know what to expect. He could be in there. It doesn’t matter. We’re taking the attitude, it’s how we need to play that will be important. We gave them everything they could handle last year when they had everybody. We don’t think it will be any easier for us this year just because he’s not in the lineup, but we also know that if he is in the lineup it’s not going to be any easier for them, either.”

In three seasons under Murray, including last year’s playoff series, the Kings are 10-9 against the Avalanche, 5-1 at Staples Center.

“I think our personnel matches up pretty good,” Murray said.

A lot better, it seems, than their playoff seedings would indicate.