FINAL – Kings 1, Wild 3 – Danault, Anderson, Hiller

The LA Kings skated to a 3-1 defeat against Minnesota in Game 81, as they lost control over their seeding fate in the Pacific Division.

In an opening period dictated by special teams, it was Minnesota that scored the game’s first goal, as they capitalized on their first power play of the night for a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Attacking off the rush, forward Matthew Boldy weaved his way through the Los Angeles defense, breaking in towards the front of the net and firing past Kings netminder Cam Talbot for the game-opening goal, his 29th of the season.

Inside the final five seconds of play in the second period, the Wild doubled their advantage through forward Ryan Hartman, taking a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes of play. Minnesota winger Kirill Kaprizov led a 2-on-1 rush and fed Hartman through the slot, with the bruising winger finishing top shelf at the back post for a two-goal lead.

Minnesota made it 3-0 midway through the third period off a cheeky individual effort from Kaprizov. Skating behind the net, Kaprizov banked a shot off the back of Talbot and in for his 45th goal of the season and a three-goal lead, as he picked up his second point of the evening.

In the latter stages of the third period, the Kings got on the board through forward Blake Lizotte, as they ended Minnesota’s shutout bid. Lizotte connected with forward Kevin Fiala off the rush, worked his way into the high slot and beat Wild netminder Filip Gustavsson with a wrist shot to move the hosts within two goals, at a 3-1 scoreline.

Hear from forward Phillip Danault, defenseman Mikey Anderson and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s game.

Phillip Danault

Mikey Anderson
On tonight’s result taking away control for the Kings in their playoff fate
I don’t think it matters who we play. Anyone that’s making postseason is a really good team. Whoever it is, we need to be ready to play, probably a little more intensity than we had today if we want to have some success, but yeah, it doesn’t really matter. No matter who we play, you’re going to have to play them at some point, if you want to win it all.

On if there is any concern with the lack of intensity heading into the playoffs
No, I don’t think so. I mean, we’ve got a lot of guys that have won here, been a part of teams that have had success. We trust the group, what we need to do. Maybe not where we wanted it to be at the start, but trust in the group, trust in the leaders to make sure we’re building and ready to go.

On if there is a challenge in getting up for games like this, right after clinching
I mean maybe, we haven’t had that in a while. Both my years we’ve made it, I think it’s been the last weekend of games we’ve been pushing to clinch [something], so we’ve needed every game for it. I don’t know, sometimes maybe it’s relief you get in, but at the same time you can’t be taking steps back. We’ve got to keep building, because you don’t get any time after the year to build your game up, you’re jumping right into it. So, just making sure we’re ready to go. We’ve got one more try at it before you need to be ready.

On the concern of the team’s approach and style at this point in the season
I still think we’ve got guys playing the way we need to play. Maybe we’ve gotten a little greedy at times trying to make more plays than maybe we have in the past. I don’t think we’ve tried to change our style. Obviously, sometimes things happen game to game, but I don’t think anyone’s worried with what we’re trying to do as a group.

Jim Hiller
On the team lacking in certain areas tonight
You can describe it a bunch of different ways. Not enough intensity, not enough emotion, not competitive enough. A bunch of words, they all mean the same thing. We didn’t have ‘er.

On where he felt the group was lacking in tonight’s game
To me, it was a little bit like the Anaheim game. We didn’t put the puck in, we didn’t want to go to work and battle and be greasy and that’s hard. It’s a challenge to have to do that and we weren’t committed to doing that today. We got this result that we got. We tried to make some plays through the neutral zone, made a couple of mistakes, obvious mistakes, and they capitalized.

On if he is concerned heading into the postseason after tonight’s game
I wouldn’t say it’s a concern. I’m not concerned, I don’t like it, you know what I mean? It’s not like we didn’t talk about it, it’s not like they didn’t know it, it’s not like they didn’t talk about it amongst themselves. We all know what the situation is. We just didn’t bring it. That’s a question that has to be asked, for sure.

On the Kings losing control of their seeding destiny with a loss tonight
I’ve said all along, I haven’t changed, we’re in a playoff race, that’s the way I see it. That can be the only way you approach it, because you’ve got to play, you’ve got to want to win every game and that’s what you’re doing and then you’ll let the chips fall where they may. Different things can happen, who knows, but for us, the focus on is us. We’re in a playoff race and tonight was not a game indicative of a playoff race.

On if he liked anything he got from changing up the lines during the game
No, there wasn’t a bunch I liked about the game. I don’t have that in my head, that I liked this or that. Not much there.

Hiller also indicated that he does not expect playoff happenings around the NHL to impact his lineup in Game 82 on Thursday.

Notes –
– Blake Lizotte (1-0=1) scored his second goal against Minnesota this campaign, his seventh tally of the season overall.
– Kevin Fiala (0-1=1) notched his 44th assist for his 73rd point (29-44=73) on the season, tying Adrian Kempe (27-46=73) for the team lead heading into the final matchup of the regular season on Thursday. With the helper, Fiala extends his point streak to a third consecutive game.
– Jordan Spence skated in his 100th career NHL game, becoming the sixth defenseman selected in the 2019 NHL Draft to do so. Spence joins Arthur Kaliyev (188GP) and Tobias Bjornfot (117GP) as the only skaters selected in the 2018 NHL Draft to skate in 100 games with the Kings.
– Cam Talbot recorded his third assist of the season on Lizotte’s goal as part of his 26 save performance.

The Kings have a scheduled team day off tomorrow and will return to the ice for practice on Wednesday, April 17 at 11 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center.

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