In the preseason, Kings head coach Andy Murray told me his goal for the season was 82-0. When I laughed at the suggestion, he shot back dead seriously: "I'd say right now going into the season we're looking at 164 points. Because if we are playing 82 games, we better expect to win them all right now or there's no sense playing them. If I was to tell you 100 points, then that would mean we are prepared to lose some games, and before the year starts, I'm not prepared to say that."

Well, after a 4-1 loss to the Avs on Thursday, a perfect season is out the window. But the Kings still look like one of the top teams in the West. And they better be good now before their schedule gets cruel.

Los Angeles begins a brutal monthlong stretch with 13 of 15 games on the road next week. After playing host to the Canucks on Saturday, the Kings hit the road Wednesday for five games in nine nights against the Red Wings, Rangers, Blue Jackets, Thrashers and Blackhawks. Los Angeles returns to the Staples Center for two games against the Nashville and Minnesota on Nov. 2 and 4, then goes out for an eight-game road trip to San Jose, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Minnesota and St. Louis. Yikes, the schedule makers weren't kind to the Kings this summer.

But if Murray's troops can get off to a good start, they will be battle-tested early, then have the good fortune of playing 35 of their last 62 at home. And while perfection is now out of reach, 81-1 is sure to be the fiery Murray's new goal.

The team with the most surprising start to the season is unquestionably the Minnesota Wild. At 3-0-1, the Wild are tied with the Stars at seven points for the league lead, but Minnesota did the locals a favor by defeating the reviled Texas traitors 3-1 Thursday. The Wild improved to 4-4-1 against Dallas, though only Mike Modano, Derian Hatcher and Richard Matvichuk have stayed with the franchise since its days in Minnesota.

The Wild were the top team in the preseason with a 7-0-1 record, but who really thought they would keep it up?

Minnesota has outscored its opponents 14-5 and Manny Fernandez has been brilliant in goal. After bouncing between the minor leagues and the Stars from 1994-2000, Fernandez was the top player in the Wild's expansion season two years ago, recording a 19-17-4 record with a .920 save percentage. But he slumped badly last season, going just 12-24-5 with his GAA ballooning to 3.05. Fernandez is now 3-0 with a 1.01 GAA and a .967 save percentage this season.

"I'm sleeping nights," Fernandez said. "I come to work thinking not 'How much are we going to lose by?' but 'If we keep it tight, we can play with them.'"

The Blues reportedly were interested in free-agent goalie Byron Dafoe before injuries decimated their goaltending depth chart. And now that Brent Johnson, Fred Brathwaite and Reinhard Divis are all sidelined with various maladies, Dafoe would be wise to stay close to the telephone. While Curtis Sanford performed admirably Thursday in his NHL debut, it was against the Blue Jackets. Sanford has played just 16 games in the AHL and 51 in the ECHL over the past two seasons, so he won't be getting any significant time in St. Louis in the near future. ... Radek Bonk and Magnus Arvedson could be dealt by Ottawa. Arvedson is making $1.6 million this season and will be an unrestricted free agent next July. The Sens believe Peter Schaefer can take over Arvedson's checking responsibilities. Bonk is off to a slow start and Ottawa desperately needs to clear a spot for prospect Jason Spezza. Upset at being sent to the minors out of training camp, Spezza has two goals and two assists in two games with Binghamton in the AHL. ... Valeri Bure could be on the block after finding his way into Mike Keenan's doghouse Tuesday for making a poor clearing attempt on a penalty kill. Though he was benched against the Wild, the Pocket Rocket played 15:35 on Thursday against the Blackhawks, including 6:36 on the penalty kill. Andrei Zyuzin's name has been mentioned, but it might take more than that for the Devils to reunite the Bure brothers in the New York metro area. ... The Blues also have been mentioned as a possible destination for unsigned players Martin Rucinsky, Jiri Slegr, and Valeri Kamensky. And Boston's Kyle McLaren and Anaheim's Jason York could help fill the hole on the blue line until Chris Pronger returns in the second half. ... The Calgary Flames have had some talented players taking in their games from the press box. Marc Savard was a healthy scratch in the second game of the season and Rob Niedermayer has watched from above the past two games. Savard's attitude could make him difficult to trade, while Niedermayer's $2.1 million salary makes him an expensive option for teams as a checking center, but an even more costly one for Calgary as a cheerleader.

Patrick Roy likely will tie Terry Sawchuk's games played record at home on Tuesday against the Oilers. The plan is for Roy to start Saturday at San Jose, give David Aebischer his first ice time Sunday at Anaheim and then have Roy back in net against Edmonton. That would give Roy his record-breaking 970th game in Phoenix on Thursday. ... Islanders defenseman Adrian Aucoin is averaging a league-leading 35:10 after the first four games. Aucoin played 38:21 in the Isles' 3-3 tie with the Flyers on Thursday and set an NHL-record for a regulation game by playing 40:51 in a 2-1 loss to the Caps on Saturday. ... Stephane Yelle has been given a large increase in responsibilities with Calgary. An ace penalty killer and checking-line player with Colorado, Yelle has added power-play time to his resume along with faceoff wizard, expert shotblocker and relentless backchecker. In the Flames' first three games, Yelle has logged 5:14, 3:18 and 2:44 on the power play, causing him to remark: "Over seven years [with the Avs], I probably spent four minutes total on the power play. Now, I'm beating that in one game." ... Few players tear it up in one city like John LeClair does in Montreal. The Vermont native grew up about an hour from the city where he started his NHL career, and since a 1995 trade to Philadelphia, he has 28 goals and 15 assists in 29 games in Montreal. As Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette pondered: Would you trade LeClair, Mark Recchi, Eric Desjardins, Eric Weinrich and Donald Brashear for Richard Zednik and Patrick Traverse? The answer would certainly be an overwhelming no, but Zednik and Traverse are all that are left with the Habs from trades involving those other five players. ... Nashville was the only NHL team not to lose an overtime game last season, going 5-0-13. The Preds' streak didn't last quite so long this season; they fell in their first OT contest this season to the Islanders on Tuesday. ... Pavel Bure has scored 15 goals in 14 games with the Rangers since the Blueshirts acquired him on the eve of last March's trading deadline. ... Minnesota's Bill Muckalt has three goals in the past two games after going 75 consecutive games without scoring a goal. ... If you are looking for the toughest team that a television network could ice, look no further than NESN. The Bruins' cable outlet has Ray Bourque, Cam Neely, Barry Pederson and Rick Middleton rotating as its studio analysts.

Outset Media in Victoria, British Columbia, offers "The Ultimate Hockey Trivia Game," a chance for purveyors of the puck to put their knowledge to the test. A sort of Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly combination for the frozen rubber crowd, the game comes with 360 question cards, 30 referee call cards, six playing pieces and a game board.

The focus of the game is the NHL, but it also offers questions on juniors, other pro leagues and the international game. The questions are broken down into four categories: rookie, players, teams and general.

The game provides new fans a great opportunity to learn more about hockey history, while longtime fans can brush up on essential stats and tidbits to impress their friends.

Jon A. Dolezar covers the NHL for CNNSI.com.