Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy each scored to continue their torrid starts to the season, and the Minnesota Wild escaped with a 4-3 shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Jared Spurgeon also scored and Vladimir Tarasenko had two assists for Minnesota, which earned its first home victory of the season. Kaprizov and Boldy both have three goals through the team’s three games. Marco Rossi netted the lone goal of the four-round shootout.
Quinton Byfield and Adrian Kempe each had a goal and an assist while Kevin Fiala also scored for Los Angeles, which picked up one point in the standings by wiping out a 3-0 third-period deficit and sending the game to overtime.
Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt stopped 31 shots to earn the win in his season debut.
Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper turned aside 23 shots.
Kempe forced overtime with a goal that evened the score at 3-3 with 46 seconds remaining in regulation. The Kings had an empty net and were playing with an extra attacker when Kempe chased down a long rebound in the left circle and fired a wrist shot into the net.
The Wild jumped to a 3-0 lead with a trio of power-play goals in the first period.
Spurgeon started the scoring with 5:56 left in the opening period. Vinnie Hinostroza set a screen in front of the crease, and Spurgeon slipped a shot through traffic.
Kaprizov made it 2-0 with another goal on the man advantage 2:09 later. He carried the puck to the high slot and let go of a rising wrist shot.
Twenty seconds after that, Boldy tallied a power-play goal to make it a three-score game. He charged toward the right side of the net and banked in a hard-angle shot off Kuemper.
Fiala returned the favor when he banked a shot off Wallstedt and into the net with 16:07 to go in the third period, cutting the Kings’ deficit to 3-1.
Los Angeles pulled within 3-2 on a power-play goal by Byfield with 13:38 left. Kempe fed a perfect pass to the slot for Byfield, who ripped a one-timer past Wallstedt’s right leg.
–Field Level Media
