It took a little longer than most Minnesota Wild fans were hoping it would, but the team made it worth the wait as Marco Rossi beat Darcy Kuemper in the shootout to secure the 4-3 victory. Three power play goals in the first period gave the Wild an early lead, but Los Angeles crawled back into the game with Adrian Kempe tying the game with just 46 seconds left on the game clock.
After putting up 52 shots against the Columbus Blue Jackets, it was a much more measured approach against the Kings as they logged just 26 shots. Fourteen of them came in the first period as L.A. handed them four power plays.
Jared Spurgeon opened the scoring at the fourteen minute mark as he wristed a shot from the top of the right circle through a screen. Two minutes later Kirill Kaprizov picked up his third goal of the season as he patiently circled into the slot before firing past Kuemper while the Wild were on a 5-on-3 advantage. Matt Boldy made it a double thirty seconds later as he snuck a shot in from a bad angle.
The rout was on (even if another goal was waved off just seconds after Boldy’s goal). Or, so it seemed. The Kings made it to the end of the period, and then things settled into a defensive battle. Jesper Wallstedt was challenged a bit more in the middle frame, but turned aside all 10 shots he faced.
Things unraveled slowly in the third. Kevin Fiala started the L.A. comeback with a shot from a bad angle three minutes into the period. Quinton Byfield made it 3-2 just past the six-minute mark, and then set up Kempe’s game-tying tally.
A scoreless overtime finished with the Wild having to kill off a 4-on-3 before the game headed to the shootout. Wallstedt stopped all three attempts from the Kings before Rossi went high-glove to beat Kuemper.
While the power play was dominant once again, finishing 3-for-6, the Wild’s inability to convert at 5v5 nearly came back to bite them in this game. It’s two straight games that they’ve failed to score at even strength, an issue they need to rectify.
They’ll get a chance on Tuesday as they are right back on the ice as they head to Dallas to take on the Stars.