Kings Give Sneak Preview

This, at times, was a Hollywood-style teaser for coming attractions, the premiere date tentatively two seasons from now.

Patrick O’Sullivan darted here and there on the ice, scoring one goal, coming close on other. Anze Kopitar continued to be a bull-like center with Bolshoi-like moves. If this were the 2007-08 season, it might signal the fruition of a grand plan. That might be then, this is now.

All those efforts did Wednesday was earn the Kings a point in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild. Hopes of ending a three-game losing streak ended when former King Pavol Demitra zipped up ice on a two on one and slipped a pass to Marian Gaborik, whose goal 25 seconds into overtime kept the Wild perfect this season.

The Kings were left with a fine effort, some quality moments, but another defeat and an all-too-empty Staples Center. It’s the Kings’ worst seven-game start since they were 1-3-3 in 1997-98.

“First of all, you have to look at the teams we’ve played,” center Craig Conroy said. “Anaheim, Dallas and Detroit may be in the top seven of the league. Now here comes Minnesota at 5-0. We just have to find a ways to win.”

They nearly did. The Kings hit the post three times Wednesday, twice in the third period.

“It can be frustrating for fans, but we were so close tonight,” Coach Marc Crawford said. “The effort is getting better. The play is getting better.”

The crowds are a little worse. The announced crowd of 14,617 was the third time in four games that the Kings have announced a crowd of fewer than 15,000, a level they have not been below since the 2001-02 season.

Those in attendance got a peek at things to come, the Kings hope.

The Kings acquired hope for the future with a draft-day deal in which they sent Demitra to the Wild for O’Sullivan, 21, and a first-round pick that they used to draft forward Trevor Lewis.

Kings fans got a glimpse of that plan in the second period, when O’Sullivan redirected a Lubomir Visnovsky shot past Manny Fernandez for his first NHL goal. More important to the moment, it tied the score, 1-1, 18 minutes 26 seconds into the first period.

“You look at the core of players we have and there are a lot guys who are 26 and younger,” O’Sullivan said. “Hopefully, we can keep all of us around for three or four years. We definitely want to win now, but the time and experience we get now will help us in the future.”

Kopitar, 19, burst into the NHL with a two-goal game against the Ducks. He has remained steady since, with a team-high seven points. He provided 22:51 of quality play.

“That is my goal right now, to play a lot of minutes and to learn,” Kopitar said.

The Wild is built for this season. The team’s hierarchy was ready to swap the someday for the right now, getting a prolific offensive forward in Demitra, who has stimulated the team’s power play and put a smile on the normally stoic face of fellow Slovakian Gaborik, the Wild’s marquee player.

So far, so good. The Wild has won its first six games and Demitra had Gaborik grinning Wednesday.

Gaborik brought the puck out of the Wild’s zone and fed it to Demitra, whose return pass had Gaborik going full speed to the net. His goal kept the Wild undefeated entering a game against the Ducks on Friday.

“We’re going to have to be much better Friday because Anaheim is a much better team than L.A.,” Gaborik said.

For now.

chris.foster@latimes.com