3 takeaways from the LA Kings' near comeback vs. the Wild

Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings (1-2-1) finished a three-game road trip against three difficult playoff teams from the Western Conference in the Pacific and Central Divisions on Oct. 13 against John Hynes and the Minnesota Wild (2-1-0) in Saint Paul early this week.

Late goals from Kevin Fiala and Quinton Byfield push the Los Angeles Kings and Wild to extra frames in Minnesota in the shootout defeat, 4-3

In the span of under three minutes on the power play in the opening frame in the first period, the Kings gave up three goals to the Wild and were almost knocked out of the game completely in the first 20 minutes.

Late in the middle frame, the Kings got multiple scoring chances and one high-danger scoring chance before the end of the second period. The Kings couldn't crack Jesper Wallstedt and the Wild defense, even on a Trevor Moore breakaway late in the second period.

Kevin Fiala and the Kings finally started to find their rhythm to set the tone on the offensive end of the ice in the zone in the middle frame in the second period. The Kings doubled-up Minnesota's shot total in the second period, by a margin of 10-5.

The Kings kept applying the pressure in the offensive zone in the third period until the Wild finally cracked late in the final frame. Fiala and Quinton Byfield got two quick goals for the Kings to pull LA within one on the scoreboard late in the third period tonight.

With the goalie pulled in the game's final minute in the third period, Adrian Kempe completed the Kings' three-goal rally comeback to send the game to overtime tonight.

The Kings couldn't convert on a late-overtime power play opportunity on special teams that could've officially completed the four-goal comeback in Minnesota against the Wild. Wallstedt and the Wild shut the Kings out in the shootout to get the two points at Grand Casino Arena and send the Kings back to LA with a 1-1-1 record from this road trip.

Here are three takeaways from the Kings' 4-3 shootout loss on the road against the Wild on Oct. 13.

Penalty issues desecrate the Kings early in the game in the first period

Special teams and discipline issues cost the Kings once again in this game. Had it not been for taking a few bad penalties early in this game in the first period, the team wouldn't have put Darcy Kuemper and the defense in so much of a hole within the first 15 minutes of the opening frame tonight.

Two of the goals the Kings allowed on special teams on the penalty kill were just lazy and undisciplined plays by the defense and the penalty killers out on the ice. But the third goal, scored by Wild forward Matt Boldy, was a bad goal on the post that Kuemper needs to come up with for the Kings on the penalty kill.

It almost seemed like the Kings lost the game just in that three-minute span in the first period, where the team got lazy in its own zone, killing a couple of penalties on special teams. There wasn't much Kuemper could do for the Kings in the first period, beyond that one bad goal late in the power play in the first frame to keep LA hanging around. Kuemper kept the Kings in it in the second and third period and allowed for the late-game comeback to send things to overtime and the shootout.

Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala spark the Kings offense in the third period

Fiala sparked the Kings' offense in the final frame in the third period, banking the puck in the net from a sharp angle to get LA on the scoreboard finally in the game's final 20 minutes. He was just looking for any angle he could get the puck on net against the Wild early in the game's third period, when the Kings had essentially nothing to lose but getting it to the net in the final frame.

The Kings built on the momentum from Fiala's early-third period goal when he floated into the slot on a power play against the Wild to get LA within one goal on the scoreboard in the final frame.

I thought Byfield and Fiala were two of the MVPs for the Kings in the rally loss tonight in the shootout. Byfield and Fiala combined for two goals and three total points, all coming in the third period in clutch time, vs. the Wild on the road.

Kings salvage a point in the road-trip finale

There were some positives that emerged from this game in the takeaways for Hiller and the Kings tonight. But the Kings also have a lot to improve on going back home to LA later this week for two straight home games against teams from the East against Pittsburgh and the Carolina Hurricanes this upcoming weekend at Crypto Arena on Saturday.

The Kings can say they came out of one of the most difficult Western Conference road trips early this fall in the regular season with three points in three games. Considering the fact that the Kings averaged over a dozen penalty minutes per game on this road trip and struggled to keep the puck out of the net in the defensive zone, the Kings could've done much worse in terms of points percentage in this past week in the Pacific Division.