Early lead disappears as Wild suffers first home loss – Twin Cities

In the spirit of Election Night, the Minnesota Wild saw early signs of hope and optimism fade away as special teams struggles suddenly became a concern.

The Wild were helpless on the power play and missed a second-period penalty as the Los Angeles Kings cruised to a complete 5-1 victory, handing Minnesota its first home loss of the season.

Zach Bogosian’s second-period goal was about the only reason to celebrate the Wild provided as their early dominance didn’t translate into goals. A more troubling trend is that eight minutes of power play equals just three shots on goal and no goals, extending the team’s streak to 15 consecutive man-up situations without a goal.

It’s obvious that the power play was ineffective tonight, especially early in the game to possibly extend the lead.

“They got one power play, bam, it’s in the back of the net,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “And then I also look, we get a shot, and then we get a mismatch against a tired group, bam, it’s in the net. So, in my opinion, there is a lot to be gained from this.”

Instead, the Kings broke the tie with a goal on their first power play, adding to the struggles of the Wild’s penalty takers, who are statistically among the least effective in the NHL.

Wild goaltender Filip Gustafsson finished the game with 21 saves, with two of the Kings’ goals coming on rebounds and one on a tip from Quinton Byfield, his first of the season. Trevor Lewis scored twice, including a late goal into an empty net.

“It’s great to just get the win. I think it’s been a great journey for us,” Lewis said. “At the beginning of this game we had to find our legs and kind of work them out. We found our feet and played well in the second two periods.”

Minnesota completely dominated the first period everywhere but on the scoreboard, controlling the game for long stretches and playing a defense that prevented the Kings from mounting any sustained offense. The period ended 0-0, with the Wild scoring their first power play of the game and outscoring the visitors by a commanding 9-2 margin.

Bogosian needed his first goal of the season to break the tie, with the hulking defender firing a high wrist shot into the top left corner of the net while Marcus Foligno fired a shot to the top of the crease to steal the ball. A look from the Kings goalie before it’s too late.

The Wild crowd’s revelry didn’t last long as two shifts later, Kirill Kaprizov walked down the tunnel to the locker room, bleeding after being hit in the face by a puck during an offensive zone faceoff. Adding to the bad news, the Kings took another penalty and then tied the game on a scramble in front of Gustafsson, where the goalie made one save but failed to find the rebound before the ball was hit backhand.

Kaprizov returned in the third period to a pleasant ovation from the fans, but was unable to rally the team, despite the fact that Hines sometimes replaced him twice. Kaprizov appears to have received stitches on his upper lip, but will be out for further time.

It was the third straight start for Gustafsson, who fell to 6-2-1 as a record goaltender for the Wild. In goal for Los Angeles, David Rittich started after former Wild starter Darcy Kuemper recorded a shutout the night before in Nashville. Rittich finished with 23 saves for the Kings, who were playing their 10th road game of the season.

“Give them credit, it’s a tough back-to-back game in Nashville and then here,” Bogosian said. “I think we didn’t physically wear them down today as much as we could have. In turn, they fought. Sometimes games like this happen. Turn the page and we’re in for a great journey.”

The Wild’s next three games are in San Jose on Thursday, Anaheim on Friday and Chicago on Sunday.

.

Originally published: November 5, 2024 9:43 PM CST