On the heels of two resounding road victories in two nights, the Kings will host the Vancouver Canucks for a clash between two of the best teams in the Pacific Division.

The kings shut out the so far disappointing Nashville Predators Monday, then scored five unanswered goals for defeat the Minnesota Wildwho had 18 of 22 points before the game on Tuesday. These triumphs put the Kings in first place, but with a lower points percentage than Vancouver and Vegas.

Darcy Kuemper bounced back from a mediocre game against Chicago to shut out Nashville, and David Rittich allowed the first goal of the game and then nothing more to Minnesota.

“It’s a difficult journey. I mean, I’m really proud of the team for that, and I think the most important thing is we had great goaltending both nights,” coach Jim Hiller told reporters.

The Kings’ penalty kill also left its mark on the course, with a score of 7 for 7 over two nights.

Winger Kevin Fiala, who came to the Kings from Minnesota, continued his point streak with a goal in each game of the trip. He has three goals and four assists during his five-game streak, tying Alex Laferrière (four goals, two assists) for the team’s longest active streak. Anže Kopitar has four players, while Trevor Moore and Phillip Danault woke up after slow starts to each produce three-game spurts (four points each).

Quinton Byfield finally scored his first goal of the season and, in his 988th career game, Trevor Lewis scored the 100th and 101st goals of his career on Tuesday.

Byfield, who signed a five-year contract extension over the summer, felt he was missing quality chances in games that he had buried in training and expressed relief at finally having brand. He was a little more enthusiastic about Lewis’s milestone goal.

“(In Nashville) he could have scored his 100th goal into an empty net and decided to pass it instead,” Byfield told reporters. “He’s just the type of guy (Lewis), so to see him score his 100th goal and then his 101st was special. He’s a great guy in the locker room.

Perhaps the only downside to this two-game escapade was the loss of Alex Turcotte, who absorbed a hard hit from Jeremy Lauzon in the boards on Monday. He neither returned to that game nor played in Minnesota. The Kings were off Wednesday and could not provide a definitive update via text message. In addition to losing a solid early contributor, Turcotte is particularly concerned given his harrowing history of head injuries.

Vancouver, against whom the Kings got seven points out of a possible eight last year despite winning the division by the Canucks, has faced its own injury predicament since the last playoffs. A wobbly muscle behind goaltender Thatcher Demko’s knee upended their playoff plans and Demko, a former Junior King, did not play this season.