Kings’ Rally Says It All, 3-2

The Kings were not in the best position to talk about this victory.

They scratched out a 3-2 overtime win over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday at the Xcel Energy Center, rallying from a two-goal deficit in the third period. The Kings extended their winning streak to five games, which was enough to make most players chatty, except those who scored the goals.

Slovakian-born Lubomir Visnovsky, who struggles with English, ended things by firing a shot into the upper left-hand corner of the net 1 minute 21 seconds into overtime. That came after third-period goals by Tom Kostopoulos, a shy player who is frugal in his use of English, and Jeremy Roenick, who is in self-imposed exile from speaking at all, at least where reporters and television personalities are concerned.

That, plus solid goaltending from Mathieu Garon and playoff-like perseverance, had the Kings moving forward in the playoff race.

The Kings, who lost 12 of 15 games just before the Olympic break, have won five consecutive one-goal games.

“We’ve had our slump,” Luc Robitaille said. “We can’t have any more. We can’t rest on anything because we haven’t accomplished anything, not until we reach our goal.”

Visnovsky got them a step closer to that after taking a slick drop pass from Derek Armstrong, then zipping in a shot from just inside the blue line.

“Army got two guys [to go] with him,” said Visnovsky, who has three goals in four games. “I looked up and there was [an] empty net on one side. I look the other way, then shot at the empty part.”

It was the second time in less than a week that Visnovsky beat the Wild.

He scored a third-period goal Thursday in a 3-2 victory at Staples Center.

“This is the way we have to do it night after night,” said Craig Conroy, who had two assists. “This may not have been pretty, but we have to get as many points as we can. There are 19 games left and we have to keep the countdown going, no matter what it looks like [on the ice].”

Few victories against the Wild are aesthetically pleasing. The NHL may now preach obstruction-free hockey, but as Wild Coach Jacques Lemaire said when asked Tuesday morning about the NHL rule changes and the emphasis on calling obstruction, “I can deal with that very easily.”

So when Wes Walz scored the second of his two goals 2:53 into the third period, things seemed dire for the Kings, who had only 10 shots through the first two periods.

“You don’t see them losing two-goal leads in the third period,” said Garon, who made 21 saves. “But our team showed it will do whatever it takes to win a game.”

It started with a deflected shot. Tim Gleason fired from just inside the blue line, with the puck striking a Wild player and was then hacked out of the air and into the net by Roenick, who has shunned the media for undisclosed reasons, officially. He has been identified as a heavy bettor in a gambling scandal that has shaken the NHL.

Kostopoulos tied the score two minutes later, by perching in front of the net, where he was in perfect position to chip in a pass from Eric Belanger.

“I’ve been fortunate to get chances to get some points lately,” said Kostopoulos, who has seven points in the last six games. “I just want to help the team win.”