The Kings dropped a costly game on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. Falling 3-1 to the Minnesota Wild, the loss officially eliminates the Kings chance to reach the 100-point mark for a seventh time in franchise history, but more importantly costs the Kings control of their own destiny in the upcoming playoffs picture.
It was a typical Wild versus Kings game that we’ve come to see so often these past few years as few chances were yielded by either team across the 60 minutes. While chances were indeed limited, it was the Wild that converted on them on Monday. The game’s first goal came on a Wild power play in the first period. It was Matt Boldy who weaved his way into the slot and beat former Wild goaltender Cam Talbot five hole for his 29th goal of the season. Shots favored the Wild 8-7 after 20 minutes.
The second period was more of the same and also saw the Wild outscore the Kings 1-0. Almost scoreless through the second period, the Wild struck with just four seconds remaining when Kirill Kaprizov fed Ryan Hartman backdoor to double their lead. The Wild outshot the Kings 8-5 in the second period.
The final 20 minutes was a push on the scoreboard as Kaprizov banked in a shot from behind the net off of the back of Talbot’s helmet and into the net for his 45th goal of the season, followed by a Blake Lizotte wrist shot goal with 5:24 remaining in the game. The Kings pushed and pressured the Wild in the final minutes, but could beat Fillip Gustavsson for a second time.
Talbot made 25 saves.
