Kings' late push falls short in loss against Wild

Viktor Arvidsson scores for Kings, whose late push falls short in loss to Wild

Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (32) gives up a goal to Wild forward Victor Rask (49) during the second period Oct. 16, 2021.

By Dan Greenspan

Associated Press

Oct. 16, 2021 10:36 PM PT

Frederick Gaudreau, Victor Rask and Ryan Hartman scored in the second period, and the Minnesota Wild held on for a 3-2 win over the Kings on Saturday night.

Cam Talbot started for the second straight night and made 29 saves. He stopped 57 of 60 shots to win back-to-back games against the Ducks and the Kings.

Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist, Viktor Arvidsson scored his first goal for the Kings, and Jonathan Quick made 27 saves.

While Minnesota wasn’t able to immediately carry over the energy from Marcus Foligno’s goal in the final seconds in a 2-1 win at Anaheim on Friday, the Wild got on track in the middle 20 minutes.

Rask gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead at 11:55 of the second period, scoring on a wrist shot in the slot.

Hartman made it 3-1 at 16:52, when Foligno’s backhand pass set him up to shoot over a sprawling Quick for his first goal of the season.

Kopitar cut it to 3-2 at 7:28 of the third period off a give-and-go from Drew Doughty. Kopitar has seven points through two games, and Doughty has five points.

After scoring two power-play goals in their season opener against Vegas on Thursday, it was the Kings’ special teams that gave them a short-lived lead early in the second. Arvidsson shot into an open net at 5:23 after a sprawling Talbot overcommitted. It was Arvidsson’s first goal since being acquired in a trade from Nashville on July 1.

Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson celebrates his goal against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 16, 2021.

Gaudreau tied it up 1-1 at 6:17 when he buried a one-timer on the near hash marks of the right circle from Kevin Fiala.

Fiala became the fifth player born in Switzerland with 200 career points.

Game notes

Kings forward Brendan Lemieux was put on the COVID-19 list earlier Saturday. Rasmus Kupari replaced him on the fourth line after being recalled from the American Hockey League. ... Quick got his 20th career assist on Kopitar’s goal.