`No rest for the weary’

The big question is, how much energy will the Kings have tonight? After last night’s flight from Edmonton to Minnesota, and the one-hour time change, the Kings didn’t get to the team hotel until 3:45 a.m. Darryl Sutter elected to take the team to the arena, which is just about two blocks away from the hotel, for an 11 a.m. meeting. The Kings have a 5-5-4 record this season in the second leg of back-to-back games. They’re a challenge under any circumstance, and in terms of timing, they don’t get much more challenging than tonight’s game against Minnesota. Dustin Brown, Mike Richards and Darryl Sutter talked about getting back on the ice again tonight, and what the Kings can do to best prepare themselves for the Wild…

BROWN: “That’s just up to individuals preparing themselves the right way and taking care of themselves. We’ve been in a playoff mentality for a few weeks now, and even more so in the last week. We’ve had a lot of recovery days, which goes a long way when we have a travel schedule like we have had in the last week.’’

RICHARDS: “It’s no rest for the weary. We’ve got to play well (tonight), and one Monday, and then we have a couple days off. So, we’ve just got to really bear down for the last two games here before the break.’’

SUTTER: “Not much I can do about it. You enjoy (last night’s win) for five minutes and then you’ve got to get ready for the next one. The mental part of it is the tough part. You’ve just got to try to deal with it, and not use it as an excuse. You use it as something to rally around, if you can. You’ve got to use everybody, because you’re trying to get as much as you can so (the players) have it for both games. It’s tough.’’