Michal Handzus’ postgame thoughts…

(on coming back after the late night…)
HANDZUS: “It was desperation, mostly. We lost four in a row, and we want to get back in the race. Obviously we lost three close games, and we knew we didn’t play that bad. We just had to step it up a little bit more, and everybody has to give a little bit more. That’s how we were talking, and we were feeling that we are coming out of it. Everybody just has to give a little bit more, and obviously we showed it in the first. That was a big event for us.”

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Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts…

(on winning after the late night…)
MURRAY: “That’s a character win. That’s digging in and playing with the right kind of an attitude to get back in the win column. Just building off the momentum of the last couple games. We talked about that. They were good efforts, and we just weren’t able to find ways to win, but tonight it was very good, doing the right stuff. A real good character win for us.”

(on his thoughts halfway through the season…)
MURRAY: “Real good. I’m happy with where we’re at, as far as our overall team play. From game one, it’s been very good at times. We’ve hit a few bumps along the way, but overall, we’re pleased. Not satisfied, but we’re pleased. Our special teams are in pretty good shape, outside of the early part of our penalty kill. It has bounced back and done a very good job. I think we showed that here tonight, in critical situations. We just have to know that this is only halfway, and keep going.”

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Rob Scuderi’s postgame thoughts….

(on the game…)
SCUDERI: “We didn’t take stupid penalties, especially in the offensive zone. I thought our forwards did a great job of cycling the puck down low, which really made it tough for their D to get the puck back. We just took it to them all night. That’s something we’re going to have to do more of, if we’re going to have success later on.”

(on winning conference games…)
SCUDERI: “The conference games, it doesn’t take a genius to look at the standings and know that every two points matters. Every time you beat a conference team, that’s two points that they can’t get, so that’s important.”

Ryan Smyth’s postgame thoughts…

(on scoring a goal…)
SMYTH: “I was pretty excited. Obviously when you miss a chunk of games, you want to feel like you’re contributing and being a part. When I scored, it was pretty exciting. It was big. We scored on the power play and we contributed that way, and that was something that was needed too.”

(on being in a playoff spot halfway through the season…)
SMYTH: “We had, I believe, a great first half. We do have a lot of room for improvement. We want to get to the postseason. It’s going to get tighter. It’s going to get harder. It’s going to be a grind. Games like this, or even games like last night, if we can pull out on the win side in tight-checking games, you’ve got to find a way to get two points, or a point for sure. Each point, from here on in, is so important.”

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Alexander Frolov scored two goals, including one into an empty net with 1:38 remaining, as the Kings broke their four-game losing streak and ended the first half of their season (and the calendar year) with a victory. Brad Richardson, Ryan Smyth and Michal Handzus also scored goals and Jonathan Quick made 27 saves. More from the locker room ASAP…

The Wild had only one shot on goal in the third period until, with 6:03 remaining, Owen Nolan scored to make it a two-goal game. Nolan, in front, took a centering pass from Marek Zidlicky and beat Quick to make it 4-2.

Lots of extra-curricular activity after the horn, as all 10 skaters were pushing and shoving. The Kings are outshooting the Wild 24-20, although it was 20-10 at one point. The Kings are 15-0-0 when leading after two periods this season.

The Kings continued their scoring early in the second period. In a delayed-penalty situation, the Kings controlled the puck, then Alexander Frolov fed a perfect cross-ice pass to Michal Handzus, whose one-timer from the right side beat Backstrom 3:17 into the second period for a 4-0 lead.

The Wild answered at the 4:50 mark. Jonathan Quick moved to his right to play a rebound shot, but Antti Miettinen instead centered a pass to Andrew Brunette, whose one-timer went into an open net to make it 4-1.

Shots were 14-6 in favor of the Kings in the first period. The Wild were booed off the ice by the home fans at the end of the period. The Kings had been 2-for-23 on the power play before Ryan Smyth’s goal.

The Kings scored a power-play goal with 1:06 remaining in the first period. Drew Doughty made it happen, as he blocked a clearing attempt, then sent a puck to the net. Ryan Smyth, parked in front, got the tip-in to give the Kings a 3-0 lead.