Young Kings have chance to make history

The first Kings team to win eight consecutive games was a rugged fan favorite anchored by goalie Rogie Vachon and legendary defenseman Terry Harper.

The second time it happened, the roster included future Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille.

On Saturday afternoon at Staples Center, the current Kings have a chance to erase their predecessors from the record book by winning a franchise-best ninth in a row. But whether that will also win these Kings a special place in team lore may take longer to sort out.

“We’re trying to find out what kind of team we’re going to be,” said Kings Coach Terry Murray, whose squad faces the Detroit Red Wings in a 1 p.m. matinee. “We’re very young. Our core group of guys is by far the youngest in the National Hockey League. And there’s still a lot of growth in front of this core group.”

What they’ve accomplished already is pretty impressive. They’ve won 35 games faster than any team in club history, for instance. The Gretzky-led 1992-93 team, which made it to the Stanley Cup finals, didn’t make it to 35 wins until the final week of March.

Their 73 points after 57 games is the best mark by a Kings team in 35 years, when the club was 32-11-14.

And with the team fourth in points in the Western Conference, it seems ready to end the longest playoff drought in franchise history as well.

“The team’s coming together,” Murray says. “It’s not just what we have on the ice. It’s what’s in the locker room with people . . . wanting to be a part of the group and playing hard for their teammates. The character, the perseverance that they’ve shown over this year has been tremendous.”

Murray points to the Kings’ latest win -- their 10th in 11 games -- as an example. After goalie Jonathan Quick let a 4-1 third-period lead over the Ducks evaporate in the span of four shots Thursday, Quick’s teammates dug deep, with late goals by Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar lifting the goaltender to his 33rd win of the season, two short of another club record.

“That is an indication that this is a special group of guys,” Murray said. “That they’re going to go through this and work hard for each other all the time.”

Brown, 25; Quick, 24; and Kopitar, 22, are three of half a dozen Kings age 25 or younger. But they’ve already displayed uncommon maturity, starting last summer when Brown and defenseman Matt Greene, a graybeard at 26, invited several players to Southern California for off-season workouts that, in addition to building strength and stamina, also built bonds.

“All of that is a big part of it,” Murray said. “That pays off at this time of year. This is the time that you put yourself and your team to the test.”

Greene doesn’t see that ending any time soon.

“It’s not too often that you have a group of 10 to 15 guys playing their A game all at the same time,” he said. “We have a lot of confidence. It’s a given right now. Our top players are doing it.

“It’s just going to get better for us, hopefully.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com