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Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota Wild (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

3 Takeaways From the Wild’s Win Over the Kings

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Mariah E. Stark | Last updated Mar 18, 2025 12:05 PM ET

The Minnesota Wild hosted the Los Angeles Kings for the second time this season and third overall meetup on Monday, Mar. 17. The Wild’s injury list remained the same with Filip Gustavsson in net, except Marcus Foligno was added to that list right at game time, and they faced a fully healthy Kings roster that included former Wild players Kevin Fiala and in net, Darcy Kuemper.

The Wild were eager to return to the scoring train and shake off their recent two-game losing streak. They had a tough hill to climb as the Kings were on a five-game win streak, including wins over the Vegas Golden Knights and a shutout win over the Washington Capitals. The game started favoring the Kings, but the Wild fought back to tie it and went into the third 1-1. They scored their second power-play goal of the game in the third to take the lead and got the 3-1 win. In this article we’ll look at how they did it, starting with two players with great games.

Wild’s Gustavsson & Hartman Shine

Gustavsson has looked strong for most of the season, but there have been some games where it looks like nothing can get past him. Despite the Kings getting one through, Gustavsson was rock solid the whole night. The lone goal was more on his defense for not covering the weak side than it was on his shoulders. He made big save after big save and came up big when they needed him the most.

He wasn’t the only one who had a strong game; most of his teammates played well, but Ryan Hartman stood out as well. He not only scored the first goal of the game but also stepped up and assisted on the second, both on the power play.

“He’s scoring goals and winning faceoffs and playing well. That’s the Hartszy I’ve known for six years, like I said right now I think we need team effort from everyone and I think we got it today,” said Mats Zuccarello about Hartman’s efforts.

“Best save of the night, I got it on the blocker there, then I tried to poke check, and I got it, and then I was like, ‘Oh, here’s a goal,’ and then I see Johnny (Merrill) coming there and saving the day a little bit,” said Gustavsson about Jon Merrill’s stick save that kept the game from going 2-0 Kings.

Wild’s Special Teams Bounce Back

After killing off every penalty they took in the previous three games, which was seven total, the first one they took against the Kings led to a goal. Instead of getting dejected with a goal scored just 17 seconds into the penalty kill, they dug deep and played harder. They played disciplined and got the puck out of the zone every chance.

While they bounced back on the penalty kill, they also found a way through on the power play, which tied the game. They’d had quite a few close calls but then had the perfect set-up on the power play: They won the faceoff back to their defense, who took the shot, and the forward tipped it. They added a second power-play goal in the third to take the lead and that was the game-winner.

“I don’t think I’ve played a game in my career where anyone’s been agreeing with the refs; it’s emotional for us; we get it, and sometimes everyone can get it wrong, sometimes we complain. The refs have a hard job as well; they get a lot of s*** sometimes. It’s emotional for us guys out there coming down the stretch here. You don’t feel like you’re playing well, but I think we came back strong, and we talked about it before the game we need a team effort at this time of the year, and I think we had that and take the two points,” said Zuccarello about not getting down after that first Kings goal.

Wild’s Overall Effort Better

After a struggle against the St. Louis Blues, where the effort was lacking at times, it was a much-improved effort against the Kings. They appeared to get better as the game went on, and their chances improved as well. At the beginning of the game, it looked like it would be the same struggles they’ve had over the past few weeks, but they had a different attitude, and it paid off.

“It felt different in front, like the second period. I thought we started to play more hockey, hockeyish again. A little quicker and creating more, maybe we didn’t have as many shots in the second period but we killed two big PKs there and then had a power-play goal, and it felt like we created more, and they carried it and were there defending as well so it felt a little different today,” said Gustavsson about the team effort in front of him.

Wild Need Home Wins

The Wild have two more games on this part of their homestand before they head on the road for just one quick game, and then it’s back home for three more. They’ll host the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night, Mar. 19, which will also be a late start for local Wild fans, as the game is slated to get underway after 8:30 p.m. CT. Hopefully, with this win, the Wild can continue to score more goals and stay on the winning track.