Minnesota
Wild uncover their nemesis, as Kings beat Minnesota a second time
LOS ANGELES – On an evening when they celebrated Star Wars Night at a hockey rink a few miles south of the iconic Hollywood sign, the Minnesota Wild may have found their arch-nemesis. And fittingly, the Los Angeles Kings come clad in all black, Darth Vader style.
For the second time this season, the Kings had their way with Minnesota, using the force to take a first-period lead and rendering the Wild mostly powerless to mount a comeback. The Kings’ 4-1 win was just the second regulation road loss suffered by the Wild this season, as they fell to 11-2-3 in games played outside of St. Paul.
Minnesota goalie Marc-Andre Fleury suffered his first regulation loss of the season despite 30 saves and the Kings were the aggressors right from the start. Coupled with a 5-1 win by Los Angeles on Election Night at Xcel Energy Center, the Wild have clearly found a weak spot in their otherwise impressive run over the season’s first two months.
Yakov Trenin scored Minnesota’s only goal with just 1:13 remaining, and the Kings got a pair of empty net goals in the win.
The Wild offered few excuses and credited Los Angeles for their style of playing with a lead, but it was noted that Saturday’s game was an early start after playing a late game against the Ducks the night before.
“Twenty-two hours. I don’t know who does the scheduling crap, but they have a tough job,” Wild forward Marcus Foligno said. “I get it, but being so close to Anaheim. I think they take that into consideration. We have to be up for these games. Effort, I think it’s there. It’s just, pucks were bouncing and we weren’t as crisp as we usually are.”
Darcy Kuemper, the Kings goalie who started his career in Minnesota a decade ago, had 23 saves and was within 73 seconds of becoming the first puck-stopper to turn in a shutout versus the Wild this season.
Both goalies were busy in the first period, with Kuemper thwarting a solo rush by Foligno, and Fleury leaning over the back of his net to grab a deflection that was coming hard off the glass.
The Kings finally broke through with 43 seconds remaining in the opening period, as Adrian Kempe redirected a cross-ice pass from Anze Kopitar. Kempe was crashing the crease and missed the puck with his stick, but it deflected off Kempe’s skate and past Fleury.
The Wild have now gone five games without a first-period goal, last scoring in the opening 20 minutes the night before Thanksgiving in a 1-0 win at Buffalo. But their coach says that’s just the way trends go sometimes, and there is not a reason for concern.
“If you looked at today’s game, I thought we had some prime-time looks right in the first and I think we start games on time. I think we’re ready to play,” John Hynes said. “I think sometimes that’s just how the games play out, but I think our starts have been good and strong, and sometimes you score early. Sometimes you score in the middle. Sometimes you score late. But it’s just finding ways to win games. But as far as the starts, I think we’ve been good.”
With Marcus Johansson in the penalty box for a knee-on-knee collision with Kings forward Vladislav Gavrikov, Los Angeles doubled the lead when Alex Laferriere ripped a wrist shot past Fleury on the power play.
After Fleury denied Kevin Fiala with a toe save early in the second, Foligno dropped the gloves with Kings forward Tanner Jeannot. Both men got a five-minute rest mandated by the officials as a result. Minnesota managed just three shots on Kuemper in the second period, despite two abbreviated power plays.
With Fleury pulled for an extra attacker in the third, Trevor Moore hit the empty net with 1:54 left to put the home team up by three before Trenin spoiled the shutout bid with his second goal of the weekend, and of the season. Moore hit a second empty-netter on the next shift.
After Friday night’s 5-1 win in Anaheim, Hynes elected to run it back, assembling the same 12 forwards and six defensemen and starting Fleury in goal as the only lineup change.
During a third period media timeout, the Kings gave a video board salute to Fleury, who has announced this season will be his last. The goalie gave a wave to the crowd to acknowledge their applause.
“Yeah, it’s expected,” Fleury said of the tough back-to-back schedule. “But we gotta find ways to still win. Still appreciate the boys, how they battle right till the end. Nobody quit. Kept trying. Gotta give (the Kings) a little credit. They shut it down pretty good back there.”
Kopitar was honored in the first period to mark the veteran forward playing in 1,400 career games — 700 at home and 700 on the road. He joined Luc Robitaille as the only players in Los Angeles franchise history to reach that milestone.
The Wild conclude their three-game road trip on Tuesday, making their first-ever visit to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Hockey Club. That franchise relocated from Arizona last summer, where they had been the Coyotes for more than 25 years.
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