How Wild’s lost special teams battle proved costly vs. Kings: 3 takeaways
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild lost the special teams battle for the fourth consecutive contest and it finally cost them a game as their three-game win streak came to an end with a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Playing against a Kings team that played the night before, the Wild suffered their second regulation loss in 12 games and closed their homestand at 2-1 with a three-game win-streak-snapping defeat.
The Wild went 0 for 4 on the power play, and their 31st-ranked penalty kill gave up another goal on the Kings' only chance of the game as the Wild saw a 1-0 lead evaporate in the second period on goals by Warren Foegele and Kevin Fiala 4:25 apart. That's six goals against on their last 11 chances and five straight games of giving up one.
The Wild lacked execution for much of the night, but they especially unraveled when Kirill Kaprizov left the game bleeding and missed the final 12 minutes of the second period when he took a puck to the mouth off the stick of Alex Laferriere .
That's when the Wild's lead turned into a deficit. Kaprizov returned in the third period with a repaired cut stretching from the left side of his top lip to the bottom of his nose.
Zach Bogosian scored the only goal for the Wild, but the Wild's fourth line and third defense pair were on the ice for the first two Los Angeles even-strength goals that turned a 1-0 lead into a 1-1 tie and 3-1 deficit. Filip Gustavsson , who saw almost no pucks in the first period, never looked comfortable and gave up four goals on 26 shots.
David Rittich improved to 4-0 with 23 saves.
The Wild are scheduled to practice in St. Paul on Wednesday morning before leaving in the afternoon for a three-game, four-night trip to San Jose, Anaheim and Chicago.
With no extra forwards on the roster, the Wild look to be calling up rookie Michael Milne for the first time in his career as a reward for his strong start in Iowa. The 22-year-old 2022 third-round pick has four goals and 8 points in 10 games for the Baby Wild, who have won three in a row. Milne was not so conspicuously in Minnesota's press box watching Tuesday night's game.
Wild's penalty kill continues to kill
Overshadowed by the Wild's strong start has been the fact the Wild's penalty kill remains lousy. This was supposed to be one of the biggest fixes this season and it so far has been anything but.
It has been scored on nine times on 24 chances (62.5 percent) after killing 74.5 percent of opposing power plays last season (30th in the NHL ).
Stalwart defensemen Jonas Brodin and Brock Faber have been on the ice for six of the nine goals against. John Hynes said after Sunday's win against the Toronto Maple Leafs that the penalty kill will be a "process," he likes what he's seeing and the goals going in are off individual mistakes.
Here was a prime example in which Matt Boldy , new to the PK this year, switches aggressively with Faber and gets lower than Faber, which should never be the case.
Power play in a big funk
The Wild power play was top-five to start the season but continues to sink. It's now scoreless in the past four games with no goals on 54 tries dating to the game in Philly five games ago.
Though the seldom-used No. 2 power-play unit is scoreless in 12 games, it's disconcerting what's going on with the No. 1 unit.
We saw no shots from it on its first two power plays Tuesday, lots of errant passes and inexplicable decisions. The two most disappointing plays were Boldy's throwing a puck away after the Wild finally set up with a rushed pass to the slot and Joel Eriksson Ek 's handing the puck to a Kings player despite one Kings killer playing without a stick. That effectively meant the Wild had a five-on-three until Eriksson Ek gave it away.
On a third-period power play with a chance to tie, Boldy threw the puck out of the zone and Eriksson Ek skated the puck into traffic for a Foegele breakaway that Gustavsson denied.
On four scoreless power plays Tuesday, the Wild had three shots.
Freddy Gaudreau playing his best hockey
One bright spot for the Wild continues to be the play of Freddy Gaudreau since his two-goal night in Pittsburgh.
With an assist on Bogosian's 61st career goal and first of the season, Gaudreau extended his point streak to four games (six). He is flashing speed, making plays and looking a lot like the player of two years ago who earned a five-year contract.
Since his elevation to center on the third line in Florida seven games ago, the Wild's third line with Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman ( Yakov Trenin started there until Hartman returned from injury) has been one of Minnesota's best.
(Photo: Brad Rempel / Imagn Images)
