Wild use fast start to defeat Kings, split two-game set

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Marcus Johansson had a goal and an assist to help the Minnesota Wild avoid a third straight loss with a 5-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.

Jonas Brodin had two assists, and Kaapo Kahkonen made 32 saves for Minnesota (5-3-0), which scored three first-period goals.
The Wild split the two-game set with the Kings after losing 2-1 here Tuesday.
"We lost two in a row, we don't want to lose three, so we all knew what we needed to do and right from the start played the right way," Johansson said. "I feel like if we keep building off how we played 5-on-5 and how we started that game, it's not going to be easy coming into this building."

Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty each had a goal and an assist, and Anze Kopitar had two assists for Los Angeles (3-3-2). Jonathan Quick made 23 saves.
"We didn't play well in the first period," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "That was pretty evident. I think the second and fifth goal for me, they're so preventable. … Those are frustrating goals-against. They're completely preventable. … You're not even in a real stressful situation. You just make bad decisions. We've got to get that out of our game if we want to have any type of success."
Johansson scored with a wrist shot from the point to give the Wild a 1-0 lead at 3:33 of the first period. Kevin Fiala made it 2-0 on a breakaway at 8:17, and Kirill Kaprizov extended the lead to 3-0 when Johansson found him with a backdoor pass at 12:55.
Brown screened Kahkonen and deflected in a shot from Kopitar on the power play at 3:19 of the second period to cut it to 3-1.
After Fiala was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for boarding against Los Angeles defenseman Matt Roy at 5:34, Doughty made it 3-2 on the extended power play with a slap shot through Kahkonen's five-hole at 9:07.
"It's unfortunate, and you could tell [Fiala] didn't mean to do what he did," Wild forward Marcus Foligno said of the play that resulted in Roy leaving the game. "That stuff happens in the game of hockey. It's really quick out there."

Nick Bjugstad extended the Minnesota lead to 4-2 on a rebound at 18:38.
"I think once we got out (of the second period), [leading] 4-2 on Bjugstad's great goal, I think we felt pretty good there heading into the third," Foligno said.
Joel Eriksson Ek made it 5-2 on the rush at 4:44 of the third period. Alex Iafallo cut it to 5-3 at 9:41.
Kings defenseman Sean Walker left the game at 3:57 of the third after taking a Matt Dumba slap shot to the face, leaving Los Angeles with four defensemen for the remainder of the game. McLellan had no update on Walker or Roy, who was seeing the doctor after the game, except that the Kings expect Roy to be OK.
"They're two really good players, two of our biggest defensemen on our team, so it [stinks] to lose them," Doughty said.
McLellan said, "It affects everybody (to lose two players). I thought we tried to rally around it to begin with. We weren't very good before [Roy] got hit and then we started to wake up and play a little bit. And then when [Walker] took the shot, we talked about it. The guys wanted to play for them. So I thought we played harder after we lost two guys than we did before. Emotionally it takes a lot out of a group to see two teammates leave like that."
Los Angeles closed the game on the power play with Quick pulled for the extra attacker after Kahkonen sent the puck over the glass and was penalized for delay of game with 1:52 remaining.
"[The win is] a step in the right direction," Johansson said. "It feels like it's starting to get going a little bit and we have to build off that."
NOTES: Doughty, a defenseman, played a game-high 32:19. … Kopitar has 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in his past six games. … Eleven Wild scored at least one point. … Kaprizov leads NHL rookies with seven points (two goals, five assists).