Game 45: Kings 5, Wild 2

That's more like it. The Kings snap their four-game losing streak with a big win over the Wild. And the pieces are slowly falling into place for the Kings. But is it too late?

One of those pieces, Jack Johnson, played in his second game after being on the shelf most of the season. He had 17 minutes, and played about where you'd expect.

Then there's Drew MF'N Doughty. Doughty not only led the Kings in ice time once again, he tallied two assists, and was his typical solid self, getting voted as the third star of the game by the local media. Matt Greene also had two assists.

Jonny Quick also played remarkably, who turned away all 13 shots in the third period, leading the Kings to victory. Anze Kopitar scored on the power play, but wasn't his typical self in the faceoff circle: 4 out of 14 is just not acceptable.

The Kings caught a tired Wild team on the second of back-to-back games for Minnesota. Let's see how the Boys do in their second game tommorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche.

• AP:  Calder leads balanced Kings to win over Wild

The NHL’s lowest-scoring team, the Kings were 0-for-26 on the power play during their skid until Anze Kopitar scored with the man advantage at 7:18 of the second period to put Los Angeles ahead 2-1. Brown stretched the lead to two 1:14 later.

• LAKings.com: LAKINGS.com feeling presidential

They said it

“We’ve got to get some momentum going and get on a roll. Everybody else is winning, and we’ve just got to get some points and stay in the hunt.” – Kings defenseman Matt Greene.

Looking through purple-hued googles

• A Queen Among Kings: Aaaand we're back

The Kings get a respectable 32 shots on the Wild netminders while only letting 27 get on Jonathan Quick. (By the way, Jonathan Bernier was looking mighty fine on the bench.) Quick looked solid positionally and had a fast glove-hand tonight. He's penciled in to start against the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow, and after this game, I'd be surprised to see Bernier in net.

•  The Royal Half: Miller Gone Wild

A "Clutterbuck" is:

a. one of the 7 dirty words you can't say on tv
b. a brief 1940's dance craze
c. the leader in hits for the Minnesota Wild
d. the Rooster from the Warner Brothers cartoons

From the other side of the ice, the Wild view

• St. Paul Tribune: Wild break down before the break

"We weren't ready for their work ethic," veteran Wild defenseman Martin Skoula said. "They were just all over us right from the first minute. Everybody's supposed to be ready. We can't have an excuse for not working hard."

• Pioneer Press: Minnesota Wild fall victim to the Terrible Twos again

• Russo's Rants: Los Angeles Kings 5, Wild 2

Lots of good young forwards, a great young blue line — how good is Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson (when he’s not punching Marek Zidlicky, of all guys), a great coach and with lots of cap space, room to make some big free-agent acquisitions or parlay this talent into immediate impact guys. Yes, the Kings’ future is bright.

• Hitting the Post: Kings 5, Wild 2

Bottom Line: The Kings' younger, stronger lineup give the Wild fits. If the Kings played the Wild 8 times a season instead of 4, they might make the playoffs. The Wild collective heads were just not into this game, maybe looking forward to the All-Star break a bit too much.

Power numbers

• ESPN: Up one to 24

• The Hockey News:  Plummet to 27

• TSN.ca: Holding steady at 19

• Yahoo: Down to 27th

Peeping the dailies




Here's the fight between Raitis Ivanans and Derek Booger... er, Boogaard