Adrian Kempe and Alex Laferriere scored goals, Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves, and the Kings beat Minnesota 4-1 on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena to end the Wild’s five-game win streak.
Trevor Moore added two empty-net goals for the Kings, who have won a season-high five consecutive games.
Kempe was in the right place at the right time to send Anze Kopitar’s rebound in off his left skate in the last minute of the first period. Laferriere doubled the lead on the power play midway through the second through a screen set by Phillip Danault.
Kuemper hadn’t started since Nov. 13 in Colorado when he sustained a groin injury that sidelined him for seven games. He has allowed two goals or fewer in seven of his 11 appearances this season.
Yakov Trenin scored late in the third and Marc Andre-Fleury made 30 saves for the Wild, who lost the second game of a back-to-back set. Minnesota won 5-1 at Anaheim on Friday.
Fleury made a kick save but sent the puck right into the path of an oncoming Kempe with 43 seconds left in the first and Kempe scored, giving Los Angeles the lead.
Kempe is heating up with eight goals and four assists over his past 10 games.
Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov couldn’t get going against L.A.’s pesky defense. He came into the night with a five-game point streak (four goals, four assists) and had scored in three straight.
Kopitar played in his 1,400th career game. It happened in his 700th home game, making Kopitar the first NHL player to reach the mark split evenly between home and road.
The Kings start a seven-game road trip against the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.