LOS ANGELES –– The Kings became the NHL’s hottest team by knocking off the heretofore surging Minnesota Wild, 4-1, at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday evening.
The Wild had won a league-best five consecutive games entering the match, a string that was snapped by the Kings for a fifth straight win of their own. Just 22 hours after Minnesota dismantled the Ducks, 5-1, it lacked vigor while the Kings played a calculated game that wore the visitors down and successfully exploited lapses in their defensive-zone coverage.
Adrian Kempe and Alex Laferriere, the Kings’ two leading goal-scorers, each lit the lamp. Kempe also set up one of two empty-net tallies for last year’s top sniper, Trevor Moore. Anže Kopitar assisted on Kempe’s goal to punctuate the captain’s 1400th career game. Only three other active players have reached that milestone. Darcy Kuemper repelled 23 shots in his first start since Nov. 13, when he sustained a lower-body injury in Colorado. Kuemper was drafted by Minnesota in 2009 and remained with the organization until 2017.
Yakov Trenin scored for Minnesota. The 40-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury had 30 saves in what was the three-time Stanley Cup champion’s final regular-season visit to Los Angeles.
The Kings continued their dominance of closing stanzas, as Moore’s empty-netters made them the NHL’s highest-scoring team in the third period. Between his markers, Trenin broke up what would have been Kuemper’s second shutout of the year with his second goal of the season but his second in less than 24 hours after scoring late in Anaheim on Friday.
In the second period, a fight with Marcus Foligno left Tanner Jeannot’s face bloodied but it was the Wild who were battered on the scoreboard by the Kings’ power-play goal at 8:33.
Laferriere received a Jordan Spence pass in the left circle, using his eyes to scan for a pass but employing his hands to load up a filthy wrist shot that he scooped to the far side to beat Fleury cleanly. Laferriere’s 12th goal equaled his total from all of last season when he played three times as many games as he has so far this year. Laferriere would also have a partial breakaway in the third period.
Entering the game, the Kings and Wild were tied for the fewest first-period goals allowed in the league, producing a predictably measured first frame, that was until the final minute.
Kopitar and Kempe switched positions before Kopitar curled into the right circle while Kempe burst to the back post. Kopitar’s shot-pass was redirected home by Kempe for his team-leading 13th goal with 43 seconds before the first intermission.
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