Early lead fades early as Wild fall to Kings
In the spirit of Election Night, the Minnesota Wild saw the signs of hope and optimism from an early lead fade and wither away, as struggles on special teams are suddenly an area of concern.
The Wild were powerless on the power play, and failed to kill a second period penalty, as the Los Angeles Kings rallied for a thorough 5-1 win, handing Minnesota its first home loss of the season.
A second period goal by Zach Bogosian was about the only reason to cheer that the Wild provided, as their early dominance did not translate into goals. The more alarming trend is the eight minutes of power play time that equated to just three shots on goal, and no goals, extending the team's run to 15 consecutive man-advantage situations without scoring.
By contrast, the Kings forged a tie by scoring on their first power play of the game, deepening the struggles of the Wild's penalty killers, who are among the least-effective in the NHL, statistically.
Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson finished with 21 saves, with two of the Kings goals coming on rebounds and one on a tip-in by Quinton Byfield, for his first goal of the season. Trevor Lewis scored twice, including a late empty net goal.
Minnesota thoroughly dominated the first period everywhere except the scoreboard, controlling the play for long stretches and playing the kind of defense that kept the Kings from putting together any sustained offense. The period ended deadlocked 0-0, with the Wild on the game's first power play, and out-shooting the visitors by a notable 9-2 margin.
It took the first goal of the season by Bogosian to break the tie, as the hulking defenseman flipped a wrist shot from the high slot, hitting the upper left corner of the net while Marcus Foligno posted at the top of the crease and took away the Kings goalie's view until it was too late.
The Wild fans' revelry didn't last long, as Kirill Kaprizov headed down the tunnel to the locker room two shifts later, bleeding after taking a puck to the face off a faceoff play in the offensive zone. Adding to the bad news, the Kings killed another penalty, then tied the game on a scramble in front of Gustavsson, where the goalie made one save, but could not locate the rebound before it was backhanded in.
Kaprizov returned for the third period, to a nice ovation from the home crowd, but could not rally the troops despite being double-shifted by Wild coach John Hynes at times.
It was the third consecutive start for Gustavsson, who fell to 6-2-1 as the Wild's goalie of record. In the Los Angeles net, David Rittich got the start after former Wild puck-stopper Darcy Kuemper had recorded a shutout the previous night in Nashville. Rittich finished with 23 saves for the Kings, who were playing their league-high 10th road game of the season.
The Wild head on the road for their next three with games at San Jose on Thursday, at Anaheim on Friday and at Chicago on Sunday.
