Wild squander 3-goal lead before beating Kings in shootout

The Wild and Los Angeles Kings traded big periods on Monday but Minnesota ultimately won the final challenge After blowing a - first-period lead the Wild survived an overtime penalty kill to send the challenge to a shootout winning on a Marco Rossi goal and Jesper Wallstedt s last four saves of a big night for the -year-old goalkeeper It would have been nice if we could have kept it away from shootouts and overtime Wallstedt commented but two points on home ice against a conference crew we ll take it Jared Spurgeon Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy each scored power-play goals in the final minutes of the first period and the Wild appeared to put the encounter away early when Ryan Hartman hurriedly followed with an even strength goal The horn sounded and Hartman raised his arms in celebration but before he could skate to the bench for his high-fives on-ice officers waved off the goal because Hartman battling Kings center Quinto Byfield ran into goaltender Darcy Kuemper and impeded his ability to chase the puck The contact was deemed incidental but the call loomed large late as the Kings rallied to tie the match with third period goals by Kevin Fiala Byfield and with seconds left Adrian Kempe who corralled an easy rebound and identified the near corner to send the championship to overtime Big block and it just ends up right on their stick Wild captain Jared Spurgeon mentioned That s the way it is but we didn t sag too much in overtime had specific big chances and the big kill there and then particular big saves to win the shootout Rossi scored the only shootout goal and Wallstedt stopped shots by Kempe Trevor Moore Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko the last sealing the two points and pushing the Wild to - - this new season in his first NHL appearance since Dec Wallstedt finished with saves three in an overtime that included a two minute -on- advantage for the Kings I felt like I was in good control even though I was tired Wallstedt declared The work I did this summer felt like it was worth it and I felt like I could keep on pushing those last couple seconds I looked up quick and could see there was seconds left that was when I was like OK let s battle this one out and we ll win in a shootout It looked like the Wild s competition early when in the space of minutes seconds Spurgeon Kaprizov and Boldy scored power-play goals as Minnesota raced to a - lead with left in the first frame But Minnesota hasn t scored an even-strength goal since their - season-opening win at St Louis on Oct The teams skated to a scoreless draw in the second period but the Kings essentially owned the third I don t know something changed Kaprizov announced But maybe a little bit we need more focus and play a little better -on- Fiala and Byfield each scored early in the third the latter on a power-play goal as the Kings made it a one-goal tournament late With Kuemper pulled for an extra attacker Kempe scored on a long rebound with seconds left in regulation to tie it - After watching teammates Kaprizov Boldy and Vladimir Taresenko fail to crack Kuemper in the shootout Rossi had a pretty good idea of how to attack with the encounter in the balance Rossi skated in from the right faked a move then fired a wrist shot top shelf You can see what the goalie does Rossi noted of watching the Wild s first three tries He was really low in the net that s why like do a fake or like a deke on him Just had to fake it And after being peppered with shots in the third period Wallstedt kept his composure and helped the Wild salvage the extra point I thought Jesper played really well Wild coach John Hynes declared These are chosen of those things you learn about your association A young member that s coming in you have the lead and then he gets under duress and makes certain big saves but a limited unveiled a way to go in He came up huge for us in the overtime and then obviously in the shootout After the match the Wild left for Dallas where they ll play the Stars on Tuesday night Related Articles Wild coach John Hynes preaching the importance of faceoffs Lemaire cherishes Minnesota memories from Wild staff reunion Blue Jackets spoil Wild s home opener party Jonas Brodin s return bolsters Wild defensive depth Young leadership group vital as Wild mix newbies into key roles