LOS ANGELES — The Kings’ recent inability to hold leads took a backseat to their ability to gain them as they mounted five separate one-goal edges in a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Wild in a shootout at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday evening.
The Kings’ quality win, their second in six chances against the Central Division’s tremendous triumvirate of Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota, was just their third triumph in 11 games overall.
Samuel Helenius scored a goal, as did Adrian Kempe, Corey Perry and Quinton Byfield, who tacked on an assist. Darcy Kuemper stopped 24 shots. Brandt Clarke netted the game-deciding conversion on his first ever NHL shootout attempt.
Matt Boldy, Jake Middleton, Joel Eriksson Ek and Brock Faber each had a goal for Minnesota, with Faber adding a helper. Jesper Wallstedt halted 34 pucks.
“Every time we took the lead, if they [tied it up], we weren’t wavering,” Clarke said. “You could hear it on the bench, the veterans were saying ‘we’ve got this game, this is our game, we’re gonna find a way to win,’ and we did, they were right.”
Yet Clarke himself was most responsible for the win. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Kings outscored the Wild 3-0 with Clarke on the ice, while out-shooting them 18-2 and out-chancing them 23-6 to the tune of an 81% expected-goals-for clip.
In overtime, Clarke nearly set up Anže Kopitar for a winner, but the pass eluded him, producing a two-on-one rush the other way. Kuemper robbed Faber for one of three stellar stops in OT from the Canadian Olympian to be.
The Kings also finished the bonus session with 92 seconds of four-on-three power play after Faber high-sticked Kevin Fiala, for whom he was traded in 2022. But the Wild PK held strong.
“It was a very gutsy kill, all three guys and (Wallstedt), it was (expletive) awesome to watch, and it gave us a chance in the shootout,” Faber said.
The Wild won in a shootout, 4-3, on Oct. 13. This time, the tables turned as the Kings took their second of seven shootouts this season.
Kempe converted off a low shot before Boldy deked Kuemper to score off his backhand, continuing the themes of response and reciprocity. Clarke then settled a rolling puck during his attempt, patiently approaching before rifling in the suspense-ending game-winner.
Minnesota reached OT via a Super Ball goal with 2:57 on the clock, a shot that hit Fiala’s skate and then Boldy’s torso before caroming into the net.
With 7:51 remaining in regulation, Fiala drew a crowd before spotting Helenius coming off the bench. His five-hole goal was his first of the season and gave the Kings a 4-3 edge.
Helenius hadn’t skated a shift since the middle of the second period and didn’t have another after his goal, which surprised Wallstedt, who said he was expecting a high shot from such a prime position.
At 4:56 of the closing frame, the Kings went up when Byfield’s shot, forced miles wide and off the end boards, hit the posterior of Wallstedt and ended up going in the net off of Ryan Hartman during a scramble. The own goal was credited to Byfield, giving him an accidental goal and an accidental assist on Saturday.
It was the Kings’ longest-lived lead of the bout to that point, 2:39.
Faber, the former Kings prospect, finished a tic-tac-toe play off the rush uncontested to tie it anew.
After 17 scoreless minutes of the second period, the two sides would trade blows, as they did in the first, this time on the power play.
With 3:03 remaining, the Kings converted with the extra man for the fourth straight game, their season-long streak. With a screener at each post, Byfield sent a low-flying shot that was headed wide. Though Perry’s stick was tied up by Marcus Foligno, he reached his hand out ever so slightly to deflect the puck home off his glove. Perry has heated back up with six points during his four-game streak.
“There were a few lucky goals for sure tonight, but it was also nice to get the power play [goal], because we were kind of in a groove,” Byfield said.
But just 86 seconds later, Minnesota equalized after the second unnecessary penalty of the period for Byfield, who also drew an infraction.
Quinn Hughes calmly went back for a puck before casually making a three-line pass that split Kempe and Joel Edmundson to send Eriksson Ek in for a partial breakaway tally. Hughes later juked Byfield in a way that dropped jaws on the Wild bench, Boldy revealed.
The Kings played a strong opening stanza and tried to take advantage of Minnesota having played 22½ hours earlier. In the end, the 20 minutes represented a swap of goals.
The Kings kicked it off with a goal off their forecheck, 6:08 after the puck dropped.
Kopitar stripped Hughes behind the net and found Kempe for a kneeling one-timer from close range.
But 2:20 later, Minnesota knotted it up, 1-1.
Byfield and Warren Foegele just could not get in sync. Byfield tried to rim the puck, but the pass went nowhere after Foegele delayed his pursuit. When Minnesota recovered the puck, both Byfield and Foegele went to Eriksson Ek, leaving Middleton wide open at the left point for a snapper that leveled the match.
Next up, the Kings host the Wild again on Monday.