Lewis gets 2 goals in 3rd, Kings score 5 straight to cool off Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Trevor Lewis scored twice in the third period for the Los Angeles Kings, who scored five straight goals in a 5-1 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.

“It’s great just to get the win,” Lewis said. “I think it was a big road trip for us. Early on in that game, we had to find our legs and kind of grind it out. We found the legs and we played well the second two periods.”

Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist, and Kevin Fiala also scored for the Kings (8-3-3), who were coming off a 3-0 victory at the Nashville Predators on Monday and have won five of seven (5-1-1). Trevor Moore and Alex Laferriere each had two assists, and David Rittich made 23 saves.

Los Angeles went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

“Penalty kill has been pretty good for a while,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “When I say pretty good, there’s nothing more frustrating as a power play when you don’t get set up, at least get some good looks. Our penalty kill has been doing a good job not letting them get set up. It’s not just the fact you don’t give up a goal, but you get a little momentum from it and that’s been an important part for us.”

Zach Bogosian scored, and Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves for the Wild (8-2-2), who had won three straight and seven of eight.

“To me, there’s a lot to take out of it,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “We talk a lot about details and managing the game. And when you win, sometimes you don’t get exposed in those things. But I think tonight it was a good snap back of the importance of details, the importance of staying with your game. Little details in the game matter.”

Bogosian gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 7:31 of the second period with a wrist shot from the high slot that ricocheted off the post and in. It was his first goal of the season.

Warren Foegele tied it 1-1 at 14:30, knocking in the rebound on the backhand after Gustavsson denied Laferriere on the initial shot.

Fiala put Los Angeles ahead 2-1 at 18:55 on the power play with a snap shot from the top of the left circle.

“I think we had a bit of trouble getting the puck up the ice with speed,” Bogosian said. “I thought our breakouts probably weren’t as clean as we would’ve liked and that kind of ruins the flow, a little bit of attacking offense. I think that’d be something that pops out in my mind. We definitely can’t lose sight of how well we’ve played the last stretch of games.”

Lewis extended it to 3-1 at 7:39 of the third, poking a loose puck past Gustavsson five-hole.

Byfield made it 4-1 with a tip-in at 14:12 off a pass from Vladislav Gavrikov in the slot for his first goal of the season.

“I've had a lot of Grade A’s, honestly just on myself, maybe gripping a little too hard right now,” Byfield said. “I've had multiple breakaways, 2-on-1s, stuff like that. In practice, burying all those and then comes to the game, I don't know. So just get one there, great pass by [Gavrikov]. Feels good. Get it off the back and hopefully they start falling.”

Lewis scored into an empty net at 16:14 for the 5-1 final.

“These points are always crucial,” Lewis said. “You want to always be in a playoff spot. So, I think we just got to keep building. There’s still things we can get better at. We just got to keep building on our game and keep grinding.”

NOTES: Kings forward Alex Turcotte did not play after leaving the second period of Monday’s game with an undisclosed injury. …With an assist, Wild forward Frederick Gaudreau extended his point streak to four games (two goals, four assists). The streak ties his career long point streak and sets a new career-long assist streak (four games). …Minnesota went scoreless on the power play (0-for-4) for a fourth straight game and is 0-for-14 during that span.