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Wild aim to rebound in LA

Nov 12, 2011 - 4:20 PM (Sports Network) - Their season-high five-game winning streak is over, but the Minnesota Wild will get back to work tonight against the Los Angeles Kings in the continuation of a five-game road trip at Staples Center.

Minnesota's winning streak was cut short with Thursday's 3-1 loss at San Jose, as Kyle Brodziak scored the lone goal for the Wild and goaltender Niklas Backstrom made 33 saves in a losing effort.

"I know we can play a lot better and we want to be a lot better," Backstrom said. "We lost today but we have to move on and get better for our next game."

Backstrom recorded his first shutout of the season in a 3-0 win at Calgary on Tuesday, but the Wild fell to 1-8-1 in their last 10 games in San Jose. The last time the Wild won more than five straight in a single season was a franchise-record, nine-game run from March 8-24, 2007.

Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi combined for one shot in their first visit to San Jose since being traded to the Wild in separate deals for Brent Burns and Martin Havlat. Wild winger Cal Clutterbuck returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday's game with an upper body injury.

The Wild are 3-1-2 in the previous six road contests and will also visit Anaheim and Columbus on the road swing.

Los Angeles has mustered a 2-5-2 record over its last nine games and will resume a four-game homestand tonight.

The Kings dropped a 3-2 decision versus Vancouver on Thursday, as Drew Doughty and Mike Richards had a goal apiece for Los Angeles, which opened the residency with a 4-3 win over Nashville and began the 2011-12 campaign 5-1-1. Jonathan Quick made 29 saves and allowed three goals in the first period.

"It's very hard to dig out of a hole like that against that kind of a team," said Los Angeles head coach Terry Murray.

LA will wrap up the homestand next Wednesday versus Anaheim.

The Kings and Wild split four meetings a season ago. Los Angeles has won eight of the past 12 contests in this series and Minnesota is 5-7-2 in the last 14 trips to Staples Center.