Cam Talbot made 27 saves to help the Minnesota Wild beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Friday night in Minneapolis.
Talbot was making his first appearance since February 2, as he spent 2 1/2 weeks on the Covid-19 list before he was cleared last week.
Kirill Kaprizov, Nick Bjugstad and Joel Eriksson Ek scored on three straight shots in the first period for the Wild, who have won five in a row, combining for 23 goals in that streak.
Jeff Carter scored and Jonathan Quick made 27 saves for the Kings, who had their six-game winning streak snapped.
The Kings, who allowed just seven goals and posted two shutouts during their winning streak, gave up three goals in a 3:03 span of the first period.
Kaprizov scored the fifth goal of his rookie season and third against the Kings to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 12:33.
After Quick made a save on a point shot from Jonas Brodin, Kaprizov’s follow-up shot hit the side of the net. Kaprizov recovered the puck and scored on a wraparound while falling to his knees behind the Los Angeles net.
Quick was unable to control a dump-in by Minnesota that banked off the end boards and came up the side of the net, allowing Bjugstad to skate in and chip the puck high into the net for a 2-0 lead at 14:31. It was the 100th goal of Bjugstad’s nine-year NHL career.
The Wild made it 3-0 at 15:36. The puck caromed into the slot after a
save by Quick, and Eriksson Ek was in position to fire it into the net for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.
The Kings played much better in the second and third periods, but were unable to get the puck past Talbot until 2:50 remained in the game. Carter scored on a redirection to spoil Talbot’s shot at the 23rd shutout of his NHL career and his first of the season.
Rangers unload on Bruins for third win in four games
Colin Blackwell and Chris Kreider scored 12 seconds apart late in the second period and the host New York Rangers rolled to a 6-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Friday night.
Fans were in attendance at Madison Square Garden for the first time in nearly a year. Nearly 2,000 spectators were spread out throughout the stands for the Rangers’ first home game in front of a crowd since a 6-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils on March 7 – five days before the NHL paused for more than four months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ryan Strome gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead 2:32 into the second period off a nifty feed from rookie Alexis Lafreniere, and New York struck twice during the final 68 seconds of the period.
Blackwell made it 3-1 just seconds into a power play when he raced to the middle of the crease and tipped a slap shot from defenseman Adam Fox over goaltender Tuukka Rask’s right shoulder at 18:52.
At the 19:04 mark, Kreider made it 4-1 when he threw the puck to the net off a sharp angle from the left side of the crease.
The puck caromed off the skate of Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy and trickled under Rask.
Pavel Buchnevich and Jonny Brodzinski padded the lead in the opening 3:43 of the third.
Phillip Di Giuseppe scored the other goal for the Rangers, who won for the third time in four games. Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves for New York.
Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand scored for Boston, which followed up a 7-2 road loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday with its fourth defeat in five games.
Rask allowed a season-high six goals on 34 shots. Di Giuseppe gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with 6:44 left in the first period.
Julien Gauthier lifted a wrist shot from the right circle that struck Di Giuseppe and fluttered past Rask. Gauthier was initially credited with the goal before a postgame scoring change.
After Strome’s goal, the Bruins pulled within 2-1 when Bergeron redirected David Pastrnak’s pass into the vacated net at 4:02 of the second period.
Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba (left) celebrates with left wing Kirill Kaprizov after Kaprizov scored a goal against the Los Angeles Kings in the first period at Xcel Energy Center. (USA TODAY Sports)
