Kings go into the break with a victory

The Kings hoped to come away from Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche with two things: a victory and some all-important momentum heading into their 15-day Olympic break.

Yet they may have accomplished even more than that. They may have also delivered a message to doubters who have been waiting for them to fade.

Riding goals by Brad Richardson, Anze Kopitar and Oscar Moller, and a 22-save shutout by Jonathan Quick, the Kings rolled to an impressive 3-0 victory in one of their most complete efforts of the season.

“We’re maturing and coming together,” said Quick, who won his league-leading 35th game, tying the franchise record, while recording his second shutout of the season. “We’ve put a big emphasis on jelling together as a team and coming together more as a team. Up to this point we’ve played some great hockey.

“We’ve beat some good teams. It’s going to get a lot more competitive after the Olympic break.”

The team that dug hard for a full 60 minutes Saturday bore little resemblance to the one that finished last in the Pacific Division the last two seasons. And that leaves anyone who thought the Kings’ fast start was a fluke in need of a reassessment.

“I think we’re living up to our own expectations,” Kings Coach Terry Murray said. “The goal was to make the playoffs this season.”

That’s a place the Kings haven’t visited since 2002. But when the season resumes next month, Murray’s goal will be a realistic one because the Kings rank fifth in the Western Conference with 21 games to play.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Kopitar, the Kings’ leading scorer, said of the team’s lofty perch. “We kind of said, ‘OK, this is it.’ The rebuilding’s done and we’ve got to come out strong.”

The Kings were aggressive from the opening faceoff Saturday, getting six shots on goal in the first six minutes. That’s one less than they got in the entire first period in Thursday’s loss to Edmonton.

And the Kings were physical too, delivering several board-rattling checks.

Both those factors played a role in the Kings’ first goal, with rookie Rich Clune helping to dig the puck out from along the board and get it to Rob Scuderi at the blue line. Scuderi then sent a left-handed blast on goal, where it was redirected into the net by Richardson 11:19 into the second period.

The Kings put the game away with a pair of goals less than four minutes apart early in the final period. Kopitar got the first on a power play at 3:28, taking Jack Johnson’s pass from behind the Colorado net, then walking in from the right wing to beat Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson.

The goal was Kopitar’s 28th, one better than he scored all of last season, and it gave him 18 points in the King’s last 12 games.

Moller got the last score, slipping a wrister past Anderson from the left faceoff circle at the end of a breakaway at 7:12. Clune got an assist on that goal too, giving him two in as many NHL games.

“We’re in a good position right now,” Murray said. “It’s going to be a sprint to the finish. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com