Marc-Andre Fleury had a brutal first period and it was too much for the Minnesota Wild (2-2) to overcome as they fell at home to the Los Angeles Kings by a score of 7-3 Thursday night in St. Paul.
Fleury, who was in vintage form Tuesday night in Montreal, struggled from the get-go as he allowed four goals in the first period, including a pair that he would likely agree were saves most NHL goalies would make 99 times out of 100.
Carl Grundstrom gave the Kings a 1-0 lead just 2 minutes, 39 seconds into the first period when his shot cruised by Fleury’s glove side. That was the first one Fleury would certainly block most nights.
Minnesota answered with goals by Connor Dewar and Kirill Kaprizov for a 2-1 lead, with Kaprizov tipping a shot from the blue line by Jonas Brodin.
But then Fleury was blinded by a crowd in front of the net and Vladislav Gavrikov found the back of the net to tie the game 2-2 with 4:14 left in the opening frame. And then Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice in 12 seconds in the final minute of the period for a 4-2 Los Angeles lead.
Fleury allowed four goals on seven shots in the first period and then was a perfect 12 for 12 in saves in the second period, but it was too late as the Wild never got closer than two goals and dropped their first home game of the young season.
The Kings took a 5-2 lead midway through the third before Marcus Johansson beat Cam Talbot to make it 5-3 only to have the Kings add a couple of empty-net goals for the 7-3 margin.
Up next: Wild vs. Columbus, Saturday at 7 p.m. CT.
