Ryan Hartman scored two goals and Filip Gustavsson made 33 saves as the Minnesota Wild collected a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday in Saint Paul, Minn.
The Wild have won their past three games and are 4-1-1 in their past six.
Despite recording a season-low 20 shots, Minnesota delivered a strong defensive performance to stifle the high-scoring Kings. Although the Kings amassed 34 shots, they had trouble translating that pressure into clear scoring chances.
Los Angeles entered the game on a four-game winning streak during which the Kings scored 22 goals.
Gustavsson was in line for his second shutout of the season and his career before Anze Kopitar scored with 21 seconds remaining in regulation.
It was the latest strong outing for Gustavsson, who has a 2.11 goals-against average through 26 games. The third-year goaltender has moved into more of a starting role over veteran Marc-Andre Fleury.
Hartman scored 13 seconds into the middle period for his 100th career NHL goal. The forward struck again 15:12 into the third period as a Wild counterattack led to Hartman taking the shot himself on a two-on-one chance.
It was Hartman’s second consecutive multipoint game. Four of Hartman’s nine goals this season have come in his past six games.
Kings goalie Pheonix Copley stopped 18 of 20 shots.
Minnesota kept the Kings’ elite power play in check, limiting Los Angeles to one unsuccessful chance with the extra attacker. The Kings were 9-for-18 on the power play in their previous five games, but the Wild extended their penalty-killing streak to a perfect 19-for-19 over their last eight games.
Kopitar has seven goals and seven assists in his past nine games.
Wild forward Adam Beckman almost registered his first NHL goal midway through the first period, but the tally was erased after a video review. The Kings successful challenged that Minnesota was offside earlier in the play.
–Field Level Media
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