Kuemper, Wild blank Kings

LOS ANGELES -- The Minnesota Wild came into the game with their offense ailing and their confidence frayed, but the atmosphere in their dressing room afterward couldn't have been more relaxed.

Darcy Kuemper made 32 saves and Zach Parise snapped an 11-game power-play drought in a 3-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Thursday.
Charlie Coyle and Erik Haula scored for the Wild (23-16-8), who snapped a five-game losing streak. Kuemper, injured or scratched in 11 of the previous 12 games, got his second shutout this season.
"We were due in a lot of areas, and I think our game had been a lot better the last couple of games. We just weren't really getting the results," Kuemper said. "We get that early power-play goal ... it was kind of a breath of fresh air for everyone and a bit of a relief. You could see us get to our game after that."
The Kings (29-14-3) lost for the third time in regulation (9-3-1) since the Christmas break and were shut out for the third time this season.
Minnesota scored four goals during its losing streak, which included back-to-back shutouts. Parise said the win released a lot of pressure.
"I think we really needed it for our own psyche," Parise said. "It's been getting tough for us lately - losing a lot of games and not producing on offense. It's been really tough and frustrating."
Parise got Minnesota's first power-play goal of 2016 in the second period to end an 0-for-25 slump. Jason Pominville tied up two Kings in the corner and Thomas Vanek made a saucer pass to Parise for a snap shot at 3:12, with Kings captain Dustin Brown serving a cross-checking penalty.
Kuemper also won at the San Jose Sharks this season. Asked about liking California, Kuemper said jokingly, "Maybe it's the California girls." He got serious and said "it's the type of game that happens in these buildings … tight checking and not a lot of rush chances."
Minnesota played the second of back-to-back games but it was Los Angeles that looked sluggish. The Wild blocked 21 shots and won 42 of 71 faceoffs.
"That was just a very poor effort," forward Tyler Toffoli said. "I think we really weren't prepared to play and it showed. We had our chances to score and we didn't bear down."
Coyle beat Kings goalie Jonathan Quick to the glove side on a breakaway at 19:06 after Marco Scandella lifted a pass to center ice that Coyle collected at the blue line. The Kings challenged that Coyle was offside, but the goal stood because Coyle was ruled to have had possession and control of the puck as he entered the attacking zone, even though his skates preceded the puck over the blue line.
Haula scored shorthanded 5:04 into the third, finishing off a 2-on-1 break with Mikko Koivu. Defenseman Ryan Suter, on his 31st birthday, started the play by chipping the puck free from a defensive zone faceoff.
Wild center Jarret Stoll received a standing ovation during a video tribute in his first appearance at Staples Center since he left the Kings last summer after seven seasons. He raised his arm to salute the crowd before he took a faceoff.
"It was great, it was awesome," Stoll said. "Obviously chills everywhere throughout your body and I wanted it to end as quickly as possible … I would've got emotional or started to maybe, but just looked at [Trevor Lewis] in the faceoff and said, 'Let's go.'"
The Wild finish their three-game swing through California at San Jose on Saturday, the same day the Kings visit the Arizona Coyotes.