Wild score 12 seconds into OT to top Kings
SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Mikael Granlund scored just 12 seconds into overtime as the Minnesota Wild emerged from their bye week on the right note, beating the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 on Monday.
Granlund split a pair of Kings defenders, then scored on a pretty stickhandling play for Minnesota's only lead of the game.
Newly acquired forward Ryan White had a goal and an assist in his Wild debut as Minnesota (40-14-6) won for the third time in four games. Goalie Devan Dubnyk had 26 saves for the Wild, who also got goals from Jason Zucker, Nino Niederreiter and Jordan Schroeder.
Minnesota was playing without wingers Zach Parise and Jason Pominville, who were diagnosed with mumps.
The Kings (30-27-5) held leads of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3, only to see Minnesota pull even each time. Los Angeles got goals from Marian Gaborik, Jake Muzzin, Tanner Pearson and Nick Shore but lost for the second time in the past three games despite 30 saves from Jonathan Quick.
Gaborik scored at 1:57 of the third period, giving him 100 points in a Kings uniform, and putting the visitors up 4-3. However, Zucker spun around 30 feet out from the crease and slid a low shot between Quick's knees to tie the game with 12:56 to play.
The Kings were up 2-1 after 20 minutes. Shore broke a 21-game streak in which he'd been held without a goal. Niederreiter answered for Minnesota after he was left alone in front of Quick and flipped a wrist shot past the goalie. But Pearson scored to put the Kings back in the lead, with a seeing-eye shot that deflected off the leg of Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin and past Dubnyk on the glove side.
The Wild tied the score 2-2 early in the second period when Schroeder's centering pass from behind the net went off Kings defender Alec Martinez and past Quick. But the Kings answered to lead 3-2 on a long-range shot by Muzzin that deflected off newly acquired Wild forward Martin Hanzal and eluded Dubnyk.
But Minnesota drew even a third time when White tipped an Eric Staal shot low and under Quick.
NOTES: Minnesota made a second trade with Arizona in as many days on Monday, sending F Teemu Pulkkinen to the Coyotes for future considerations. Pulkkinen played nine games with the Wild this season, recording one goal. ... Kings G Jonathan Quick (UMass) faced his new teammate G Ben Bishop (Maine) three times in college, with Bishop holding a 2-0-1 record in the head-to-head meetings. ... Minnesota finished its franchise-record, eight-game homestand with a 5-2-1 record. ... Both the Kings and Wild boarded planes bound for Canada after the game for games Tuesday. Los Angeles visits the Calgary Flames, and Minnesota faces the Winnipeg Jets.