Now this was a good point. After frittering away late leads in recent games against Minnesota and Dallas, the Avalanche rallied from a 2-0 deficit in Los Angeles on Saturday and gained a valuable point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Kings.
This was one of the Avalanche's "games in hand" in the battle for third place in the Central Division with Minnesota, so it was important to leave the Staples Center with something.
"Last year we probably would pack it in here, right?" PA Parenteau said to reporters. "That's a big difference between last year's team and this year's team."
The Avalanche has a 23-10-2 record and 48 points in 35 games. The Wild, which was idle Saturday, is 20-12-5 for 45 points in 37 games.
"I thought it was a good point for us, no doubt about it," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said.
Matt Duchene, who has four goals and eight assists in the past six games, set up Erik Johnson and Ryan O'Reilly for power-play goals -- yes, the Avalanche connected for two power-play goals in a game for the first time since Nov. 21 against Phoenix -- and goalie Semyon Varlamov made 37 saves through the five-minute overtime.
Varlamov was already scheduled to play against the Kings -- he'll also start Monday in San Jose -- but the game came one day after a Denver judge dismissed an assault charge against him that was filed Oct. 30. The District Attorney's office asked that it be dropped because prosecutors didn't feel they could prove it at a trial.
"My relation with our players is based on respect and trust," Roy said. "I think Varly was very professional from the first day this thing came out and he had the support of his teammates. Now it's behind us and let's focus and play hockey."
Varlamov posted an 8-7-1 record in 16 games before Saturday after he was first charged, but he played pretty well considering, allowing two goals or fewer nine times in that stretch. The Avalanche went 5-2-0 with Jean-Sebastien Giguere in goal.
Varlamov is 16-8-2 overall with one shutout, a 2.35 goals-against average and .925 save percentage.
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Varlamov stopped two of three shots in the shootout, but Kings rookie sensation Martin Jones turned aside Duchene, Parenteau and O'Reilly for his eighth win in as many decisions. Varlamov made saves against Jeff Carter in the first round and Dustin Brown in the third, but Anze Kopitar scored in the second.
"I don't mind the shootout," Roy said. "I honestly think it should go back to what we (had) before. If you cannot win the game with that five-minute overtime, it should be a tie. These are big points that teams pick up and I think it would make a big difference in the standings. But at the same time, it's kind of entertaining for the fans; the fans seem to like it."
The Kings outshot the Avalanche 39-25 and took a 2-0 lead on goals by Carter on a rebound with 31.3 seconds left in the first period and Justin Williams, who knocked the puck into the net at 5:25 of the second period when Varlamov bobbled it after making a save.
Duchene made a terrific move on the right side before passing through the slot to Johnson, who beat Martin to the short side from the left circle for a power-play goal at 14:02 of the second period. Duchene teamed with O'Reilly for the second power-play goal at 10:27 of the third. Duchene made another slick move on the right side and fed O'Reilly, who cut to the net and put the puck under the crossbar with a slick shot.
The Avalanche has scored a power-play goal in three consecutive games, going 4-for-12 in this stretch and 3-for-6 in the past two games.
"You see how important it is to score power-play goals," Roy said. "(The Kings) are a good team. When you come here, you have to be ready. It was a good challenge for our team. I really think we've played well lately. I was very proud of our players. They showed a lot of character. Down 2-0 in L.A. is not easy to come back. Our power play came through for us and our penalty killing was really good and we also had great goaltending."
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Johnson, who logged a team-high 27:49, has three goals in the past four games and five this season. It's his highest total since he scored eight goals in 77 games in 2010-11 with St. Louis and Colorado ... The Kings dominated faceoffs, winning 39 of 64 (61 percent). It would have been worse but O'Reilly won five of eight draws. Paul Stastny won 10 of 20, John Mitchell lost nine of 12 and Duchene lost seven of nine ... The O'Reilly-Duchene-Nathan MacKinnon line was on the ice for both Kings goals.