Kings roll to home triumph over Wild
Kevin Fiala lit up his former team, Viktor Arvidsson scored in his first game back from injury, Andreas Englund backed up a big hit with a fight, the Kings built a 3-0 lead over the Minnesota Wild and that all happened in the first period alone.
At the end of Wednesday night, the Kings rolled 6-0 over a depleted Minnesota club that snapped its eight-game points streak with a loss in regulation at Crypto.com Arena. Both teams had won a night earlier, and the Kings have captured three of their past four games.
Kings captain Anze Kopitar's assist was career point No. 1200 and his goal was No. 1201. Fiala, Arvidsson and Phillip Danault matched Kopitar's contribution with a goal and an assist apiece. Matt Roy and Jordan Spence each added a goal from the blue line, where Drew Doughty chipped in the same two assists that Trevor Moore did up front. David Rittich earned his third shutout one night after Cam Talbot picked up a win in a romp over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Marc-Andre Fleury wobbled and also bore the brunt of Minnesota's dead legs, weary minds and bad bounces before being relieved by Filip Gustavsson. The Wild was at the end of its road trip and without arguably its three best defensive players: center Joel Eriksson Ek as well as defensemen Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin. Brodin was injured against the Ducks in a 4-0 win on Tuesday.
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Kevin Fiala of the Kings is congratulated after scoring during the first period against the Wild on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
THE SCORE KINGS 6, WILD 0
Up next: Lightning at Kings, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., BSW
The Kings' opening salvo began with a hit by Danault on the former Kings prospect at the center of the Fiala swap, defenseman Brock Faber. As the Wild attempted to break out, Fiala disrupted Ryan Hartman's pass with a deft deflection that went to Moore. Moore promptly fired a shot that Danault tipped past Fleury 5:08 into the contest for his 17th goal of the season.
Englund and Jake Middleton scrapped in the middle of both the game and the ice after Englund had checked Marcus Johansson.
SUMMARY
Minnesota Kings
First Period:
1, Kings, Danault 17 (Fiala, Moore), 5:08. 2, Kings, Fiala 23 (Kempe, Kopitar), 15:03 (pp). 3, Kings, Arvidsson 1 (Anderson, Doughty), 16:26. Penalties: Englund, LA (Fighting), 10:19. Middleton, MIN (Fighting), 10:19. Boldy, MIN (Holding), 13:08. Kempe, LA (Unsportsmanlike Conduct), 17:51. Hartman, MIN (Unsportsmanlike Conduct), 17:51.
4, Kings, Roy 4 (Kempe, Byfield), 0:28. 5, Kings, Spence 2 (Danault, Moore), 7:34 (pp). 6, Kings, Kopitar 23 (Arvidsson, Doughty), 17:15. Penalties: Doughty, LA (Interference), 2:05. Zuccarello, MIN (Hooking), 5:50. Foligno, MIN (Interference), 15:13. Dubois, LA (Tripping), 19:54.
None. Penalties: Hartman, MIN (Roughing), 8:59. Hartman, MIN (Roughing),
8:59. Dubois, LA (Roughing), 8:59. Dubois, LA (Roughing), 8:59. Middleton, MIN (Roughing),
8:59. Dubois, LA (Misconduct), 8:59. Hartman,
MIN (Misconduct), 8:59. Kopitar, LA (Misconduct), 14:16. Kempe, LA (Misconduct), 14:16. Gavrikov, LA (Misconduct), 14:16. Roy, LA (Misconduct), 14:16. Lucchini, MIN (Misconduct), 14:16. Bogosian, MIN (Misconduct), 14:16. Chisholm, MIN (Misconduct), 14:16. Byfield, LA (Misconduct), 14:16. Shaw, MIN (Misconduct), 14:16. Beckman, MIN (Misconduct), 14:16.
Minnesota 10-9-11: 30. Kings 11-9-8: 28; Minnesota 0 of 2. Kings 2 of 4; Minnesota, Gustavsson 18-15-4 (12 shots-12 saves), Minnesota, Fleury 1612-4 (16-11). Kings, Rittich 11-5-3 (30-30); 17,086 (18,230); 2:30.