LA Kings vs. Wild: Twitter breakdown, three stars, quotes in 4-0 win

The LA Kings played a complete 60 minutes on Tuesday, defeating the Minnesota Wild 4-0 while receiving enormous contributions from several players.

The LA Kings had four days off between games, which was nothing compared to their opponents in the Minnesota Wild, who hadn’t played a game since February 2 due to a COVID outbreak. Last Thursday, the Kings got off to a fast start against the Sharks, and head coach Todd McLellan iterated over the weekend how important it was for the team not to use being “rusty” as an excuse.

And fortunately, the LA Kings put together another outstanding first period, leading to Jaret Anderson-Dolan‘s third goal of the season.

The score would remain 1-0 heading into the break. Minnesota definitely came out of the locker room in the second period with a little more enthusiasm in their game. But the JAD line continued its point-producing ways. Number 28 carried the puck up-ice alone and found Trevor Moore with an excellent backhanded pass for Moore’s first goal of the season.

With a two-goal lead into the second intermission, it was important for the LA Kings to finish off the game, especially against the Wild, who they struggled to close out this season. And it took a nice defensive effort from Mikey Anderson to keep Minnesota off the board.

En route to his 53rd career shutout, Jonathan Quick came up with some big-time saves, including this one to deny a point-blank shot late in the third period.

And Dustin Brown, aided by Kopitar, put the finishing touches on the game with a dagger, his seventh goal of the season.

And Drew Doughty added one for good measure.

LA Kings three stars of the game

3 stars

Jonathan Quick – stopped all 28 shots he faced

2 stars

Jaret-Anderson-Dolan – back-to-back multipoint games with a goal and an assist on Tuesday

1 star

Trevor Moore – logged his first goal of the season on the pass from JAD.

Post-game Quotes

JAD on his pass to Moore

Yeah, I kind of just had some time and space. Things kind of just opened up and [I] kind of saw Trevor in a good spot backside there and you know, [I was] lucky enough to get that pass through and a great shot by him to put it in.

JAD on gaining more confidence

Yeah, absolutely I think that just comes with being in the lineup more and you know playing some more minutes than I have in the past couple of years. So yeah, I just feel a lot more confident every game, and you know, just looking to get better here as the season goes on and just take it one game at a time. [I] definitely have a long way to go and definitely have a lot of improvements to make in my game. So got to work on that and keep pushing forward here.

JAD on how the AHL prepared him to be successful in the NHL

It was huge for me to just get the experience, the pro hockey experience, getting those games under my belt, and just working on my overall game. I think has helped me a lot to make the jump when I’ve got my chance here. Yeah, you know, the AHL is a great league, and it pushes guys, and it’s very demanding, you know a very, very grateful for my experience there, and I think I learned a lot to help me when I’m when I’ve been up here so far.

Quick on what his shutout meant to him

I mean, it’s a win. You know, I think I’ve always felt that way. Um, you know, when you get shutouts, it’s more usually on the team than the goalie. So it’s that’s a team stat [in] my opinion. So, yeah, so I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of, you know, a lot of good teams there.

McLellan on an explosive first period

One of the things we want to do is get off to a good heavy start, and I thought we did that for the first few shifts. We got on to the power play and scored, and that certainly helped. You know, but they eventually found their legs, and they skated them themselves back into the game, and it wasn’t an easy night there. They’re a hard group to handle. Quickie had to make some really good saves. We needed some timely goals to put them out. But no, we’re happy for a lot of individuals and certainly for the team.

McLellan on what the team did well to close out Minnesota

Well, we didn’t take as many penalties as we did in the past. And you know, getting the third goal, I think, was really important for us. You know, [it] kind of took their two-goal belief probably away, and it settled us down. It happened late in the game, but it was important that that happened, and I thought we handled their cycle a little bit better than we did, certainly on the road and probably here at home, the first four times we played them.

LA Kings Schedule

With the off-day on Wednesday, the Kings will travel to Arizona to face the Coyotes on Thursday evening. Puck drop is set for 6 pm PT.