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The Los Angeles Kings picked up their second straight road win last night, defeating the Minnesota Wild 7-3.
The Kings' lineup remained the same, with Cam Talbot getting a second straight start.
Los Angeles came out well, with much of the first few minutes being spent in Minnesota’s end, and then under three minutes into the game, Carl Grundstrom managed to roof a shot over Marc-Andre Fleury to open the scoring for Los Angeles. However, only minutes later, the Wild got a lucky bounce where a dump-in took a strange bounce out to the front of the net, and Connor Dewar beat Talbot from a good spot to tie the game. Then shortly after that, Kirill Kaprizov tipped in a point shot for the Wild to take the lead, and while the Kings did challenge for offside, the goal stood and Minnesota had a 2-1 lead, along with a power play.
Near the end of the first period though, the Kings managed to tie the game once again, as Vladislav Gavrikov went to the net and buried a rebound through some traffic. Los Angeles wasn’t done there, and in the final minute of the frame, Pierre-Luc Dubois was able to body Connor Dewar off a puck on a rush and get it through Fleury five-hole, to put the Kings back ahead. While the play was reviewed, this goal stood as well.
Then just 12 seconds after taking the lead, Dubois was able to get a good shot off and beat Fleury again, putting Los Angeles ahead 4-2 through 20 minutes with the two quick goals.
The Wild controlled a lot of the first half of the second frame though, getting some great opportunities on a power play about a third of the way through the period. The Kings did start to slow down chances for Minnesota afterwards though and ended up doing a pretty good job limiting shots at even strength from there, though they did require a couple key saves from Talbot at times, including a big stop on Jonas Brodin in the last minute of the frame to preserve the two-goal lead.
Then midway through the third period, Trevor Moore was able to roof a puck from in-close past Fleury, making it a three-goal game. Joel Eriksson Ek did convert off a one-timer to get one back with about five minutes to go, but empty netters from Adrian Kempe and Blake Lizotte secured the 7-3 win.
It’s another big victory for the Kings, as the team continues to find ways to score, with 17 goals over their last three games (and 15 not including empty netters).
Los Angeles is getting contributions throughout pretty much their entire lineup, and while the top line has maybe been a little quieter than you’d hope for, the rest of the forward group hasn’t had any issues generating chances. Pierre-Luc Dubois now has three goals across his last two games, and while Alex Laferriere hasn’t got on the board yet, he’s doing everything right to create chances. Trevor Moore also has four goals in four games to start the year, and it’s looking like Arthur Kaliyev is going to fit really well with Moore and Phillip Danault.
The Kings also went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. So far this season, Los Angeles has only allowed one goal across 15 times shorthanded, which is quite the contrast to their 24th-place ranking amongst other penalty killing units last season.
After allowing two quick goals, Cam Talbot really recovered to put together another strong game. Los Angeles was outshot by a slight margin, and another good start for Talbot has to help with the team’s confidence in their goaltending situation.
On another note: we also got a better look at Brock Faber with the Wild. The defender was selected by the Kings in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft, before being traded to the Wild as part of the Kevin Fiala deal in the summer of 2022. While Fiala has emerged as the Kings’ top forward, Faber already looks great with Minnesota (and has averaged more ice time than any other defenseman on the Wild so far this season). If Faber keeps progressing at this rate, that trade may end up looking a little more fair than expected, even if it's still worked out great for Los Angeles.
So with the win, the Kings managed to go 2-for-2 in road games against Western Conference opponents, and are looking pretty dangerous offensively. They’ll be back in action tomorrow against the Boston Bruins, where Anze Kopitar will set a franchise record for most games played as a member of the Kings.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Kings assign Brandt Clarke to AHL and extend McLellan, Kaliyev suspended
- Kings announce season-opening roster
- Kings fall to Avalanche in season opener
- Kings battle back against Hurricanes, lose in marathon shootout
- Pierre-Luc Dubois scores in return to Winnipeg, Kings earn first win 
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
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