*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*
Offense was on display for the California kids. Kevin Fiala had two assists, Pierre-Luc Dubois scored two goals, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Minnesota Wild with a 7-3 victory on Thursday night in Saint Paul.
The Kings won their second straight game to improve to 2-1-1 with 7 goals to boot. Adrian Kempe, Fiala, and Dubois each had multi point games for the Kings. Anze Kopitar also tied the franchise lead for most games played, tying Dustin Brown at 1,296.
Carl Grundstrom scored 2:39 into the game to give them a 1-0 lead. Connor Dewar and Kirill Kaprizov answered for the Wild, giving them a 2-1 lead. Vladislav Gavrikov scored to tie the game 2-2 before Dubois scored at the 19:02 mark of the first and again just 12 seconds later, making it 4-2 Kings after one period.
Kings head coach Todd McClellan said of the first period that "Quite frankly, it was a strange period, the way some of the goals went in and the type of challenges both ways. But, to come out of a strange period like that up two goals on the road, we’ll take it. Some of the goals weren’t pretty, but they all count at the end of the night. Then, I think, as the game went on, still made mistakes, but Cam was really good and started to lock it down."
After a scoreless second period, Trevor Moore scored 10:13 into the 3rd period to make it 5-2 Kings. At the 14:38 mark of the period, Joel Eriksson-Ek scored his 4th goal of the season, making it a 5-3 game. Kempe scored on an empty net to make it 6-3 before Blake Lizotte added another empty net goal, making it a 7-3 game.
Cam Talbot got the start in net for the Kings as he returned to an old team in Minnesota, improving to 2-1-0 with a win. Talbot stopped 29 of the 32 shots he was tested with by the Wild, giving him a .906 save percentage.
Getting the start for the Wild was Marc-Andre Fleury, who had a tough night in net as he took the loss, his record now 1-1-0 in two starts. Fleury turned aside only 20 of the 25 shots he saw from the Kings, recording an even .800 save percentage.
Fleury said after the game "Bad scramble in front and then puck just came out of nowhere and then the guy kicked it. I was going to pass to them, and they just kept coming. I think on the last one in the third too I probably did a bad play. I try to rim it, but their guy picked it up and the scramble in front again. Other than that, I thought we stuck with it, I thought we were right there and definitely a tough loss."
Both teams are back in action with home games on Saturday night. Talbot is projected to start for the Kings against the Boston Bruins, while Filip Gustavsson is lined up to start for the Wild as they play the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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