kirill kaprizov

Kings give up another lead before defeating Wild in a shootout

Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist, Samuel Helenius scored his first goal of the season, and the Kings beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday night.

Adrian Kempe and Corey Perry also scored, Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves, and the Kings were able to respond after wilting late in similar circumstances in a 5-3 loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday.

Matt Boldy scored late to salvage a point for the Wild. Jake Middleton, Joel Eriksson Ek and Brock Faber each had a goal, and Minnesota is 3-0-3 in its past six games. Jesper Wallstedt made 34 saves.

Kempe and Brandt Clarke scored in the four-round shootout, and Kuemper saved attempts by Kirill Kaprizov and Vladimir Tarasenko.

The Kings took the lead four times, only for the Wild to tie it up each time, with Boldy making it 4-4 with 2:57 remaining by getting to the right post where Faber’s shot went in off his upper body.

The Kings went back in front 3-2 early in the third period when Byfield sent the puck caroming off the boards back into the crease, Wallstedt lost it in his skates off his line, and it was eventually knocked in by an errant Minnesota stick.

Faber tied it 3-3 at 7:33 with an easy tap in from Danila Yurov off the rush.

Helenius scored on a wrist shot from the left circle at 12:09 of the third to put the Kings back up 4-3, with the fourth-line center coming free after entering the zone late off a line chance and putting in Kevin Fiala’s pass.

Up next for the Kings: vs. the Wild again on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.

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Ducks can’t hold back Wild as losing streak grows to five games

Danila Yurov scored twice, Quinn Hughes had four assists and the Minnesota Wild beat the Ducks 5-2 on Friday night.

Kirill Kaprizov, Yakov Trenin and Nico Sturm also scored for the Wild, who earned a point for the fifth straight game (3-0-2). Filip Gustavsson stopped 26 shots.

Minnesota is 22-4-4 in its last 30 games, and 8-1-2 since acquiring Hughes, the 2024 Norris Trophy winner, in a blockbuster with Vancouver on Dec. 12.

Beckett Sennecke and Troy Terry scored for the Ducks, who have lost five straight and nine of 11. Lukas Dostal made 29 saves, including 17 in the second period.

Yurov put the game out of reach when he redirected Hughes’ shot past Dostal for a 4-1 lead 3:21 into the third. Sturm’s shot from the left circle made it 5-1 with 4:58 left.

Dostal made eight saves during a pair of penalty kills in the first seven minutes of the second, but he caught an unlucky break when the Wild scored on a double-deflection to take a 2-0 lead at the 8:10 mark.

Hughes, one of eight Minnesota players named to Winter Olympic teams Friday, sent a shot from the blue line that hit Trenin’s stick and Yurov’s right skate before trickling into the net.

The Ducks grabbed some momentum when Mason McTavish’s faceoff swipe from the left circle landed on the stick of Sennecke, whose snap shot beat Gustavsson stick-side to cut the lead to 2-1. Sennecke leads NHL rookies with 13 goals.

But Minnesota pushed it to 3-1 with 5:15 left in the second when Trenin took a pass from Hughes in the right circle and rifled a shot past Dostal.

Minnesota took advantage of Alex Killorn’s tripping penalty, needing only nine seconds to score on the power play for a 1-0 lead 5:39 into the first. Dostal blocked Hughes’ slap shot from the point, but Kaprizov banged a shot past Dostal after a scramble in front of the net for his 24th goal.

Up next for the Ducks: at Washington on Monday night.

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