Kings emerge from back-and-forth game, edge Wild in shootout
Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist for the Los Angeles Kings in a 5-4 shootout victory against the visiting Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.
Adrian Kempe, Samuel Helenius and Corey Perry also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves in regulation and stopped three of four attempts in the shootout for the Kings, who had lost two in a row and four of five.
Kempe and Brandt Clarke scored in the four-round shootout for Los Angeles, while Matt Boldy scored for Minnesota.
Brock Faber had a goal and an assist, and Jake Middleton, Joel Eriksson Ek and Boldy also scored, and Jesper Wallstedt made 34 saves for the Wild, who have a six-game point streak (3-0-3).
The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 6:08 of the first period.
Anze Kopitar stole the puck from Quinn Hughes behind the Minnesota net and made a pass from below the goal line through the crease to Kempe on the opposite side and he scored with a one-timer.
Middleton scored his first goal of the season on a one-timer from the left circle to tie it 1-1 at 8:28.
Perry was stationed to the side of the net while on a second-period power play when Byfield's shot hit him in the thigh and was redirected into the net to move Los Angeles back ahead 2-1 at the 16:57 mark.
Minnesota followed with a power-play goal of its own to tie it 2-2 at 18:23.
Hughes had the puck in his zone when he fired a stretch pass to Eriksson Ek, who had split two defenders, and he got off a shot from the bottom of the left circle that beat Kuemper over his left shoulder.
Byfield gave the Kings their third lead of the game 3-2 when he was credited with a goal after a scramble in the crease at 4:54 of the third.
The Wild came right back and tied it 3-3 at 7:33 when Faber scored from the bottom of the left circle off the rush.
Helenius scored his first goal of the season at 12:09 of the third period to break another tie. Helenius, who played just 4:34, finished a rush by scoring with a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle off a cross-ice feed from Kevin Fiala.
Boldy was credited with his 26th goal of the season when it went off his body and into the net to tie it 4-4 at 17:03.