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Kings after deadline: Kings 6, Columbus 4

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Notes and quotes from the Kings’ 6-4 victory over Columbus at Staples Center. Thanks, as always, to PR guru Jeremy Zager, whose Grandma Schwartz is going to come to a hockey game very soon.

Kings Coach Terry Murray

On the game: ‘It was a great start to the game, first half of the game I thought was exactly what you wanted to have with the compete, with the intensity and doing the right thing, getting it in, scoring some goals. Things started to change after we gave up that first goal, we got a little too casual again with puck management through the middle of the ice, gave them a lot of energy and gave them a lot of life the rest of the game I thought from that point. Bottom line is we get that win, hopefully good things can start to happen here as we build off this.’

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On Jack Johnson’s seven-year extension: ‘That’s great for Jack. He’s a young guy that’s going to be a great player in this game for a long time, so it’s great to get him locked up. Those young defensemen are very hard to find, the guys with skill and talent and ability like that. I’m hoping that he and Drew Doughty can end up being the anchors of this blue-line core for a long time.’

On Jonathan Quick’s performance: “When you get a 4-0 lead like that, now you want to just play the right way, your goaltender has to stay real sharp do the right stuff, keep it simple, just stop the puck. . . . I think when he’s on his game those are easy plays for him.”

Kings center Anze Kopitar

On the game and a full lineup: ‘Greenie [Matt Greene] talked about it before the game, to take a look around the room. As healthy as we’ve been all year, right from the get-go, and we added Sturmie [Marco Sturm] to the lineup, too. Those are the guys and I’m pretty sure there’s not going to be any major changes. We have to feel comfortable with everybody that is here and we have to trust that everybody is going to do their job. It was definitely not the way we wanted to finish that game but two points is two points.’

On approaching the second half of the season: ‘This game was a good indicator of our half season so far but we all know that can’t happen again. Hopefully the second half is going to be good. We started off, I guess we finished the first half on a good note with two points, so now we want to keep it going and build off there.’ Kings defenseman Jack Johnson

On his contract extension: ‘We started to meet periodically and it was actually kind of fun. It wasn’t any kind of burden at all, go out and play hockey every night and try to play well and everything else will take care of itself. We talked about numerous options and situations.

‘I had no problem committing that long. We were just trying to find something that was reasonable and fair for both sides and I think we’re both very happy about it.’

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Columbus Coach Scott Arniel

On the game: ‘Can’t get down to any team 4-0 but I liked the way we battled back. We made a game of it and it got close there at the end. I’m frustrated. I was really hoping to see the guys get rewarded for how hard they came out at the end.’

‘[Matt] Calvert’s goal was a feel-good thing. Everyone was happy to see him get his first. I think when [Rick] Nash got his everyone lit up and the momentum got rolling.”

Columbus forward Rick Nash

On the game: ‘We had a good third period but on the road we can’t get down like that.

‘We didn’t test Quick until after the first goal. It was a mistake on their part which gave us momentum and we used it.’

Columbus forward Derick Brassard

On the game: ‘After our road trip we haven’t played our best hockey and tonight we showed some character.

‘Our line didn’t create much in the first and second but I think we did a good job in the third. The team counted on us for that, to come back into the game and score.’

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Columbus goaltender Mathieu Garon

On the game: ‘I felt great but it’s hard when you give up four goals in the first half of the game. We came back and worked really hard in the second half but we put ourselves in trouble early in the game and we didn’t come up with enough.

‘As a team you want to stop panicking and start playing better and stop the bleeding and I think we did a good job with it. We came back but at the end it wasn’t enough.

‘We want to build on the success off of the third period. We want to come back home and start winning hockey games.’

Kings notes

*Johnson tied a career high with three assists, the third time he’s had three assists in a game.

* The Kings announced Johnson has been signed to a seven-year contract, tied with Anze Kopitar for the second-longest contract in Kings history. Wayne Gretzky had an eight-year contract.

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* Johnson has 12 points in the last 10 games (2-10=12) and 16 points in the last 16 games (3-13=16).

* Jarret Stoll had his ninth career two-goal game. He has never had a hat trick.

* Ryan Smyth has eight points in the last six games (6-2=8).

* The Kings are 12-4-0 with Willie Mitchell in the lineup and 17-5-1 with Alexei Ponikarovsky in the lineup.

* Drew Doughty has seven points in the last eight games (0-7=7) and 15 points in the last 14 games (1-14=15).

* Justin Williams has seven points in the last 10 games (5-2=7).

* Kopitar has 11 points in the last seven games (1-10=11).

* The Kings have scored 50 goals in the last 14 games (3.57 per game).

* The Kings have scored a power-play goal in 13 of the last 16 games (14-for-47 in the last 14 = 29.8 percent).

* The Kings are 20-6-0 when scoring three or more goals in a game.

* The Kings are 13-0-0 when leading after two periods.

Practice Sunday will be at 11 a.m. at Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo.

--Helene Elliott

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