Wild hold off Kings’ rally, score buzzer-beater in overtime

Slow starts have been nonstarters for the Kings this season, as they moved to 1-7-2 when trailing after the first intermission and 0-6-1 when trailing after two periods this season despite a valiant comeback effort in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild at XCel Energy Saturday.

They fell behind 2-0 in the first period Saturday after trailing 3-0 off three first-period goals allowed in a loss to Minnesota Friday.

“We were disappointed that we got into that hole again, but the team, to a man, stuck with it and clawed their way back in right to the last second,” Kings Coach Todd McLellan said.

The “to the last second” statement was quite literal, as Wild defenseman Matt Dumba scored in the final second of overtime to win the game for Minnesota.

Center Joel Eriksson-Ek, forward Nico Sturm and winger Kirill Kaprizov also tallied for Minnesota as the Wild got goals from three different lines again. Winger Jordan Greenway chipped in with two assists. Kappo Kahkonen got the call in net, casting aside 25 shots.

Defenseman Drew Doughty, winger Austin Wagner and forward Adrian Kempe scored goals for the Kings. Doughty and Kempe also contributed assists, and center Anze Kopitar had a pair of helpers. Cal Petersen saw his three-game winning streak snapped as came up with 38 of 42 stops.

The Kings spent the first two minutes of the game defending but did not let a shot through to Petersen. They gradually began to dominate possession–their Corsi and Fenwick for percentages hovered around 70 for most of the period–and out-shot the Wild 11-7 in the first period despite trailing by two goals after 20 minutes.

With 5:43 to play in the opening frame, the Wild got on the scoreboard first. A bouncing puck could not be cleared and ended up on the stick of Eriksson-Ek, who stuck with the play to bat in his team-leading eighth goal of the season.

The Wild doubled their advantage 3:08 later when forward Nick Bjugstad dipped behind the net and shrugged off checks from defenseman Tobias Bjornfot to drop a pass to a wide-open Sturm on the back door. Two Kings defenders went to forward Nick Bonino, leaving Sturm uncovered in the most dangerous area of the ice.

Less than 90 seconds into the second period, it was a familiar foe flummoxing the Kings when Kaprizov turned a broken stick and a busted play into a three-goal edge. A shot attempt by center Victor Rask from near the left point went astray when his stick snapped, but the puck skittered diagonally, becoming a de facto shot-pass. Kaprizov crept into the center of the right circle to rifle a wrist shot past Petersen.

Kaprizov, a 23-year-old rookie, now has seven points in as many meetings with the Kings this season.

The Kings were able to get a goal back on the power play just before the three-minute mark of the second period. A Kempe one-timer from high in the zone generated a juicy rebound for Doughty, who had dropped from his point position to pop in a shot top shelf from the left faceoff dot.

That ground was nearly lost when a Jeff Carter penalty appeared to lead to a power-play tap-in from defenseman Jared Spurgeon. But the goal was nullified due to goalie interference by Greenway, leaving the Kings with a glimmer of hope for a comeback.

Wagner would intensify that glimmer and halve the Kings’ deficit. He blocked a shot high in the defensive zone, recovered the puck and darted to daylight for an unassisted breakaway goal before the 12-minute mark of the second period.

Defenseman Mikey Anderson, who missed the past two games with a lower-body injury, was boarded in the closing moments of the second stanza. He would return for the third period, and he broke up a two-on-one rush for Minnesota with around five minutes to play.

Some breaks–a struck post and a shot that narrowly sailed over the net–plus sharp goaltending from Petersen kept the Kings within striking distance.

A rare holding the stick penalty on an offensive player, Wild forward Kevin Fiala, gave the Kings a power play in the final frame. They failed to convert in the final half of the third period.

Kempe drew another penalty with under three minutes remaining and they completed their comeback with an equalizer on the power play.

Another Kempe one-timer, this time from just above the right circle, fluttered like a knuckleball to the far side for the tying goal with 2:45 left in regulation.

“The power play was better tonight, obviously, getting two (goals). It wasn’t easy, they’re an elite penalty-killing team,” McLellan said.

Kempe’s shot was a partial whiff, as broadcaster Jim Fox said that Kempe got more ice than puck and McLellan called the shot “a quarter shot (and) a missed shot.”

It was a night of “strange goals” McLellan said, from the odd bounces of a rolling, wobbling puck on Erikson-Ek’s goal to the broken stick that led to Kaprizov’s tally to the puck-turned-Wiffle ball on Kempe’s tying tally.

Carter nearly had an overtime breakaway, and then he broke up the counterattack as Kaprizov dashed in on goal with a partial breakaway. However, Carter slashed Kaprizov on the play and the Kings had to combat a 4-on-3 situation in the second half of overtime.

The Kings lost the initial faceoff and spent 90 seconds hemmed in their own zone,. Yet they managed to kill the penalty, leaving them a perfect three-for-three on the P.K. Saturday.

But the elation of the comeback and the clutch penalty kill were erased by a buzzer-beating goal by Dumba.

He activated in the center of the offensive zone as winger Mats Zuccarello drew all four Kings defenders to the boards in an effort to kill the clock. He slipped a pass to Dumba, who stickhandled toward the goal and swept home the winner with less than half a second on the clock.

from Irvine Business Signs https://ift.tt/3aZNQ5P
via Irvine Sign Company