LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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 got 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 snapped a six-game point streak (3-0-3). and Filip Gustavsson had 29 saves.
The Wild are 3-1-2 on a seven-game road trip that ends Thursday at Seattle. They also lost at 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 later ruled him out for the rest of the game due to a lower-body injury. Kings head coach Jim Hiller had no update Kopitar's status after the game and said the team would know more Tuesday. Kopitar was seen walking without an apparent limp and without crutches or a walking boot as he left the Kings’ dressing room.
Los Angeles had 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 managed just one shot during the advantages.
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 to go 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 through traffic to spoiled Kuemper's bid for his third shutout of the season.
Kuzmenko restored the Kings' two-goal lead at 9:20 as he skated with the puck from the left side across the front of the net and put the puck past Gustavsson from the right side.
Hartman pulled the Wild to 3-2 with a power-play goal with 4:39 remaining, but Kempe sealed the Kings' win with an empty-netter 3 minutes later..
Wild: At Seattle on Thursday night to finish a seven-game trip.
Kings: Host San Jose on Wednesday night to finish a four-game homestand.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/NHL
