LOS ANGELES — — Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist, and the Los Angeles Kings held on to beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Monday night.
Warren Foegele, Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe also scored, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 33 shots for the Kings, who beat the Wild for the second time in three nights and earned just their fourth win in 12 games (4-6-2).
Jared Spurgeon had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Hartman also scored for Minnesota, which ended a six-game point streak (3-0-3). and Filip Gustavsson made 29 saves.
The Wild are 3-1-2 on a seven-game road trip that ends Thursday in Seattle. They also lost to Los Angeles 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday night.
Kings center Anze Kopitar left the game after playing 4:54 in the first period. The Kings then ruled him out for the rest of the game with a lower body injury. Kings head coach Jim Hiller had no update on Kopitar’s status after the game and said the team would know more Tuesday. Kopitar was seen walking with no apparent limp and without crutches or walking boots as he left the Kings locker room.
Los Angeles had a 16-8 advantage on shots on goal in the second period and scored twice to take a 2-0 lead. Minnesota had two power plays in the period, but only managed one shot during the advantage.
Foegele gave the Kings a 1-0 lead with a long shot from just inside the blue line with 4:26 left in the second period.
Fiala doubled Los Angeles’ lead with 2:08 left in the middle period. Andrei Kuzmenko’s pass deflected off Fiala’s skate on the left doorstep and past Gurstavsson for Fiala’s 15th of the season.
Spurgeon got the Wild on the scoreboard at 5:55 of the third period with a shot from the left point in traffic that spoiled Kuemper’s attempt at his third shutout of the season.
Kuzmenko restored the Kings’ two-goal lead at 9:20 by skating with the puck from the left side in front of the net and putting the puck past Gustavsson on the right side.
Hartman made it 3-2 with a power play goal with 4:39 left, but Kempe sealed the Kings’ win with an empty net 3 minutes later.
Wild: At Seattle Thursday night to finish a seven-game road trip.
Kings: Host San Jose on Wednesday night to complete a four-game homestand.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/NHL
