Klatt Favors Kings Over the Wild Life

King winger Trent Klatt played high school hockey in Osseo, a suburb of Minneapolis, and refined his talent at the University of Minnesota. He spent parts of two seasons with the North Stars before they left for Dallas in 1993, but by the time the expansion Wild brought the NHL back to Minnesota he had become too pricey for the young team to pursue as a free agent last summer.

“It’s bygones,” he said. “When my hockey career is over I can come back to Minnesota. I’m really enjoying where I am.”

As well he might. Klatt and the Kings moved up to seventh in the West, thanks to their strong penalty killing and his go-ahead goal in a 3-1 victory Tuesday over the Wild before an overflow crowd of 18,568 at the Xcel Center that included several dozen of his friends and family.

As usual, grit and staunch defense were the plan for the Kings, who extended their unbeaten streak to 4-0-3 and remained even with sixth-place Calgary at 62 points. The Flames, however, hold the edge in the standings with five more wins.

The Kings gave up only one goal during a series of penalties that filled the penalty box late in the second period and early in the third, and they broke a 1-1 tie on Klatt’s goal at 8:01 of the third. Ian Laperriere’s empty-net goal sent them on a charter flight to Columbus, Ohio, content but not complacent.

“We got two points tonight and that’s great, but if we go to Columbus and lose, it doesn’t mean anything,” Klatt said. “We can’t dwell on it. We’ve always got to be prepared for the next game.”

The Kings scored first, when Eric Belanger shot a rolling puck past Wild goalie Dwayne Roloson on the short side, at 8:59 of the second period. But that lead was jeopardized by a penalty parade that began when Klatt high-sticked Sergei Zholtok at 18:22 and got two minor penalties. Belanger went off for hooking 14 seconds later, creating a five-on-three advantage the Wild capitalized on when Andrew Brunette poked in a rebound by the right post at 19:06.

As Brunette celebrated, King defenseman Mattias Norstrom cross-checked him in the lower back, drawing another penalty. The goal had wiped out the rest of Klatt’s first minor, but he had to serve the second penalty, and Belanger had 1:30 left on his penalty. Norstrom’s term didn’t start until Klatt’s second minor ended in the third period.

“After we gave up that goal, we came in the room and just knew we were going to come out of it OK,” Belanger said. “The guys were really battling.”

Said goalie Roman Cechmanek, who pronounced himself refreshed by the All-Star break: “They scored and were a little bit lucky.... I think we played well after they scored.”

Klatt gave them the lead on what King Coach Andy Murray approvingly called “a Minnesota-type goal.” It came after the Kings failed to convert a four-on-one break but maintained control of the puck. Klatt picked up the rebound of a shot by Joe Corvo and corralled it behind the net. “I was just trying to get it on net so I’d get a rebound for Luc [Robitaille] or Army [Derek Armstrong] to bang in,” he said.

Instead, it found its way past Roloson. And when Laperriere found the empty net at 19:34, fans streamed toward the exits and the Wild moved closer to an early vacation. Murray has targeted 94 points as the threshold for being sure of a playoff spot, and his players are focused on that, not the standings.

“We’ve got to look at our situation,” Belanger said. “Every game we’ve got to get points out of it and see what happens. That’s our goal at the end of the year, to be in the playoffs. It doesn’t matter what other teams do.”