Kings hang on, end Wild winning streak at eight

LOS ANGELES -- The Minnesota Wild's eight-game winning streak ended with a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Saturday.

Brendan Lemieux scored in his return from a five-game suspension for biting Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk on Nov. 27 for the Kings (12-10-4), who have won three of four following a 1-4-3 stretch.
"I cared more about winning, and that's what we were able to do tonight against a really good hockey team that plays similar to the way we do," Lemieux said. "It felt like we were playing against ourselves at times tonight, and it was awesome to be able come out with a win."
Jonathan Quick made 30 saves for his third straight win.
Marcus Foligno had a power-play goal for the Wild (19-7-1), who had not lost in regulation since a 5-4 defeat at the Florida Panthers on Nov. 20 (8-0-1). Kaapo Kahkonen allowed two goals on 37 shots.
"We had one game tonight and we lost it, so that's the mentality," Foligno said. "It has to be. You can't be all excited because you won eight and say to yourself, 'It was a good run.' That's not the mentality we want this year."
Lemieux put the Kings in front 2-1 on a wrist shot from the slot through traffic at 9:15 of the third period. All six of Lemieux's points this season (five goals, one assist) have come in his past nine games.
"It's a massive goal for us," Kings forward Alex Iafallo said. "That's what we needed in the third period is a goal like that to push us forward and kill it off at the end."

Los Angeles is 10-3-2 when Lemieux plays, but he doesn't believe those results are a realistic representation of his contributions to the team.
"As much as you'd like to as an individual, this is a good hockey team and I've been fortunate to be on the right end of things," Lemieux said. "When you're in that game, you've got to figure out a way to contribute to the team's success, and I've just been doing my best to do that."
Phillip Danault tied it 1-1 by following up his own rebound at 14:29 of the second period.
The Wild went ahead 1-0 on Foligno's fourth power-play goal at 13:11 of the second. Foligno tipped in Matt Dumba's shot, scoring for the third time in four games.

Kings defenseman Alexander Edler left the game after sustaining a lower-body injury on a check by Wild forward Brandon Duhaime at 2:40 of the first period.
Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said it will be a "long-term" injury for Edler.
With Edler out, Kings defensemen Drew Doughty (28:03), Mikey Anderson (23:42) and Matt Roy (22:41) each played at least 22 minutes. Rookie Sean Durzi was on the ice for 17:45, and second-year defenseman Tobias Bjornfot played a season-high 17:28.
"That's a big, strong, talented, organized, confident team," McLellan said. "Not an easy task for four relatively young defensemen, and they did a tremendous job."
Minnesota took three penalties in the first period.
"I think our legs were there; I don't think our minds were quite there tonight early," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "I think the frustration level built a little bit. I thought we caught it, but by that point there was a lot of momentum gained and we expended a [heck] of a lot of energy early in that hockey game killing penalties."
NOTES: The eight-game winning streak was third-longest in Wild history. They won 12 in a row Dec. 4-29, 2016 and nine straight March 8-24, 2007. … Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin did not play because of an upper-body injury. Evason said Brodin is "very doubtful" to play against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.