Olympic Time of Life for Finland’s Eloranta

It has been a head-spinning two months for winger Mikko Eloranta.

On Oct. 23, he was traded to the Kings, along with Jason Allison, by the Boston Bruins. On Dec. 4, his wife, Mirva, gave birth to the couple’s second daughter, Emilia. And on Thursday, he was selected for Finland’s Olympic team.

“The change was hard for me at the beginning,” said Eloranta, who has two goals and three assists in his last 11 games after contributing no points in his first nine with the Kings. “I didn’t play that well when I got here. I think I’ve been playing more my own game right now and I think I’m playing way much better....

“So many things were going on around me, and maybe I try to play too much with the system. Hockey is still a game where you have to make your own decisions. Nobody can tell you what to do on the ice. You have to know it yourself.”

Eloranta, 29, said it will be “a great honor” to suit up for his country in the Salt Lake City Games in February. “Of course it’s been one of my goals for my whole life to play in the Olympics,” he said.

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Jaroslav Modry, whose three assists in Thursday night’s 6-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks matched a career high he had established six games earlier, has had 15 of his career-high 18 assists in the last 14 games. He is the league’s top scorer among players with no goals and is tied for the second-most assists by a defenseman, two behind leader Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings.

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The Kings did not practice Friday. Instead, they distributed toys at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, culminating the Kings Wives Annual Toy Drive.

TONIGHT

vs. Columbus, 7:30, Fox Sports Net

Site--Staples Center.

Radio--KSPN (1110).

Records--Kings 10-14-5-2, Blue Jackets 9-18-5-1.

Record vs. Blue Jackets--1-0.

Update--The Kings’ 7-1 victory at Columbus on Oct. 23 gave them a 3-4-1-1 record, their high-water mark this season. They traded for Allison the next day, lost their next five games and have not been fewer than four games below .500 since.

Tickets--(888) 546-4752.