LOS ANGELES – The upside of getting blitzed early is supposed to be all the time left to rally.
Wild routed by Kings 6-0 in game that could have moved Minnesota within one point of playoff spot
This was the Wild’s first regulation loss in nine games, and it prevented them from moving within a point of Vegas for the last wild-card seed in the Western Conference.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 21, 2024 at 11:39AM
But not for the Wild.
Their sour start festered into a 6-0 dismantling by the Kings on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena that cost the team in more ways than one.
“It’s tough, right, to lose like that,” Zach Bogosian said. “It just wasn’t our night, obviously. No excuses.”
This was the Wild’s first regulation loss in nine games, and it prevented them from moving within a point of Vegas for the last wild-card seed in the Western Conference; instead, they remain three back and have played two more games than the Golden Knights.
“It’s tough,” Bogosian continued. “But we’ve been clawing. We’re right there. We can’t lose belief. We’ve played some good hockey lately.”
Kirill Kaprizov’s goal and point streaks expired, at five and eight games respectively, and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was dealt his first regulation loss in six starts.
Fleury was replaced by Filip Gustavsson after a five-goal, 16-shot shellacking from Los Angeles that was both bizarre and troublesome for the Wild.
“It’s obviously a tough loss, and it wasn’t from a lack of try or want to be able to do it,” coach John Hynes said. “I think some things got away from us.”
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First, there was the Ryan Hartman turnover that led to a Phillip Danault deflection just 5 minutes, 8 seconds into the first period.
Former Wild forward Kevin Fiala inflated the Kings’ lead on the power play with his patented top-shelf shot at 15:03; captain Anze Kopitar’s assist was his 1,200th career point. Then Viktor Arvidsson was awarded his first goal of the season in his return from injury when his centering attempt caromed off Dakota Mermis and behind Fleury with 3:34 to go in the first.
“Seemed like 3-0 came pretty quick,” Marcus Foligno said.
Only 28 seconds into the second period, Quinton Byfield’s pass clipped Brock Faber’s skate and went right to Matt Roy for a redirect that slipped through Fleury.
Back on the penalty kill, the Wild were tagged with their second own goal at 7:34 when Jordan Spence’s shot was tipped in by Foligno’s stick.
“It’s tough for our goalies to do that and play on their best game when we’ve got guys, myself included, getting bad breaks,” Foligno said.
Gustavsson took over after that, making 10 saves in his second appearance in as many nights since he was in net for the Wild’s 4-0 shutout at Anaheim on Tuesday.
The only puck to elude Gustavsson was a sizzling one-timer with 2:45 remaining in the second period from Kopitar; two seconds earlier, Foligno exited the penalty box after sitting for goalie interference on David Rittich, who had 31 saves for his third shutout of the season and first ever against the Wild while improving to 4-0-1 against them.
“To be honest with you, we didn’t play a bad game,” Mats Zuccarello said. “It’s just one of those games where you feel like every bounce, every puck, goes the other way. Some power play goals. But we’re battling hard. The feel is that you’re in the game. You’re creating chances and everything. That’s hockey sometimes.
“I think the result lies a little bit about how the game was.”
Los Angeles finished 2-for-4 on the power play, while the Wild were 0-for-2.
“We just got a little too quick on our routes,” Foligno said of the penalty kill. “We just talked about just staying put in lanes, and I thought we moved around a lot when they had their movement. I thought we got a little bit caught up in what they were doing.”
But perhaps the most troubling takeaway for the Wild was if this was a preview of how they’ll play without Jonas Brodin.
The defenseman was hurt against the Ducks, suffering a lower-body injury during a fall to the ice in which his right leg bent under his body.
Hynes didn’t have any further clarification on Brodin’s status after the game, which highlighted the absence of Brodin and Joel Eriksson Ek; the Wild’s first-line center missed the road trip due to a lower-body injury.
“You have two of your best players at the positions out,” Foligno said. “It’s not easy, and I think we got a little exposed in those areas tonight. But, yeah, it’s frustrating. We’re right there.
“We could have made it a one-point deficit, but our focus is we’re still in this thing and gotta keep grinding.”
After letting a 135-footer bounce in between the wickets early, Fleury steadied himself in a 5-3 victory.
