Kings beat Wings in OT, 3-2
4/24/2001LOS ANGELES (AP) - Adam Deadmarsh, so successful against Detroit in his career, stunned the Red Wings with consecutive goals to send the Los Angeles Kings into the second round of the playoffs.
Deadmarsh scored his second goal on a rebound 4:48 into overtime in the Kings' 3-2 victory that clinched the first-round series in six games.
With their fourth straight victory, the Kings won a series for the first time since 1993, when they advanced to the Stanley Cup finals.
"It's unbelievable," said Ian Laperriere, a seven-year veteran who'd never advanced to the second round. "That's what you dream when you're young. The real deal is the playoffs."
It was Detroit's earliest elimination since 1994, when San Jose upset the Red Wings in the first round.
"You're just in shock," said Detroit's Darren McCarty. "In the first two games, we were like world beaters and then it all fell apart."
Fans seemed to be holding their collective breath in overtime, then exploded in applause and cheers when Deadmarsh scored on the rebound of a shot by Jozef Stumpel. The crowd littered the ice with giveaway black pom pons as the Kings celebrated by piling on top of Deadmarsh.
Stumpel skated up the right side and fired a shot at Detroit goalie Chris Osgood, who made the save but had the puck bounce out to Deadmarsh on the left side.
"I happened to be a bit backdoor and had half the net to shoot it," said Deadmarsh, who arrived in February as part of a deal that sent Los Angeles superstar Rob Blake to Colorado.
The Kings will face Blake and the Avalanche in a second-round series that begins Thursday in Denver. The Avs swept Vancouver in four games.
Deadmarsh, who has 26 points against the Red Wings in 29 games, also forced overtime with the tying goal at 10:17 of the third period.
A shot by Ziggy Palffy busied Osgood, who had no time to adjust as Deadmarsh caught the puck in the air and slapped it through Osgood's legs to tie it 2-2.
"You try to read where the pucks go and I guessed right," Deadmarsh said.
The Red Wings again played without captain Steve Yzerman, who tested his injured left ankle by skating in warmups, but decided not to go. He played just six minutes of the best-of-seven series.
"Our problem is we haven't been rock solid protecting a lead in the third period," Yzerman said. "That was our downfall last year against Colorado. It's very disappointing, especially when you're a No. 2 seed and had high hopes."
Trailing 1-0, Detroit got back into the game with goals by Pat Verbeek and McCarty 2:22 apart in the second.
Verbeek tied it on a power-play goal at 4:20 of the second. The Kings' Stu Grimson was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct when he knocked Tomas Holmstrom to the ice before a faceoff at center ice.
Los Angeles goalie Felix Potvin went to sweep the puck away with his blocker and instead it slid underneath for the score.
McCarty, playing on an injured ankle, gave Detroit a 2-1 lead nearly 21/2 minutes later. He skated out from behind the net, paused, and then shot the puck under Potvin's right arm.
The Kings led 1-0 on a power-play goal by Stumpel at 2:19 of the first period. Detroit's Igor Larionov, rarely seen in the penalty box, went off for high-sticking 50 seconds into the game. Stumpel skated in from the far left side and angled the puck through Osgood's legs.
The Kings had a goal disallowed at 12:30 of the first that would've given them a 2-0 lead. A shot by Mathieu Schneider hit the right post and was kicked in by the left foot of Luc Robitaille, who landed in the net after being shoved from behind by Detroit's Jiri Fischer.
After a video review, supervisor of officials John D'Amico ruled Robitaille made a distinct kicking motion, and the goal didn't count. No penalty was called on Fischer.
Notes:@ LW Brendan Shanahan, who had an assist in Game 5 despite playing with a broken left foot, remained in Detroit. ... Osgood fell to 4-5 in nine starts when his team faced elimination. ... Kings D Lubomir Visnovsky was scratched for the second straight game. He was slashed in the arm by McCarty in Game 4. ... The third playoff game of the series in Los Angeles attracted 18,478, tying the attendance record for a hockey game in California.