ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Eric Fehr and Jonas Brodin scored their first goals of the season, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Thursday night.
Devan Dubnyk stopped 23 shots and had an assist for the Wild, winners of four straight. Mikael Granlund and Mikko Koivu scored empty-net goals.
Kyle Clifford scored and Jack Campbell had 22 saves for Los Angeles, which has been outscored 29-8 in losing six straight. The Kings have scored two or fewer goals in eight of 10 games, and at 2-7-1, have the second-fewest points in the league, ahead of only Detroit.
Fehr’s first-period goal exemplified the Kings’ lack of good fortune this season.
Marcus Foligno eluded Sean Walker along the left boards and centered the puck toward the Los Angeles net. Racing down the slot, Fehr was hauled down by Jake Muzzin, but the duo’s momentum carried them to the edge of the crease, where the puck deflected off a sliding Fehr and into the net. Video review confirmed the goal.
Minnesota defenseman Ryan Suter had an assist in his 1,000th career game. He is the 325th player – and 109th defenseman – in league history to reach the milestone.
The 51st defenseman in league history to have 500 points and 1,000 games played, Suter earned his 500th point last Friday. His uncle, Gary Suter, had 845 points in 1,145 games.
Los Angeles, which entered the night scoring 1.89 goals per game – second-worst in the league – went without a shot for 12+ minutes in the second period.
Brodin’s wrist shot from the top of the left circle beat a screened Campbell late in the second period.
Clifford pounced on an errant clear by Nick Seeler and beat Dubnyk early in the third.
Back-to-back penalties by Jordan Greenway – the latter 4 seconds after the first expired – and another by Eric Staal gave the Kings three late unsuccessful power plays.
NOTES: Minnesota scored first for the first time in seven games. … Dubnyk got the second assist on Brodin’s goal and has seven in his career, including three last season. … The plan remains for Los Angeles D Dustin Brown, out all season with a broken finger that required surgery, to return Sunday. … Kings D Paul LaDue was back after being scratched in four straight games. D Derek Forbert was scratched for the first time this season.
UP NEXT
Kings: Begin a season-long seven-game homestand against the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon.
Wild: Host Colorado on Saturday night before a seven-game trip starts next week.
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