Up next for Kings: Saturday vs. Minnesota

Kings tonight

VS. MINNESOTA

When: 7:30.

Where: Staples Center.

On the air: TV: FS West. Radio: 1150.

Records: Kings 16-10-0, Wild 12-11-4.

Record vs. Wild: 1-0-0.

Update: The up-and-down Kings are on an upswing again, having ridden the hot stick of Anze Kopitar to a three-game winning streak — one in which Kopitar has scored the winning goal in each victory. That follows a streak in which the Kings lost seven of eight, mostly on the road. And with the Kings off to a conference-best 11-2 start at home — one win off the club record set in the Stanley Cup finals season of 1992-93 — Saturday night’s game becomes more significant because the team heads out on a five-game road swing afterward. The Kings, unbeaten in December, are likely to be without center Brad Richardson, who left early in the first period of Thursday’s win over Calgary with an upper-body injury. The Wild snapped a five-game losing streak Thursday in Phoenix but has earned points in three consecutive games. Minnesota is 7-2-0 in its last nine meetings with the Kings but could be without forward Matt Cullen, who sat out the final period in Phoenix because of a groin injury.