(Photo: Victor Decolongon/Getty Images North America)
It was a night to forget in Los Angeles for the Wild on Thursday, especially for goalie Niklas Backstrom.
Backstrom, who leads the all goalies with 19 wins, gave up two goals on two shots and was pulled three-minutes and seven-seconds into the game.
Justin Williams sniped a shot past Backstrom 1:29 into the period, and a little more than 90 seconds later Jeff Carter scored, ending Backstrom’s night, and giving Los Angeles a 2-0 lead.
As bad as Backstrom was, Williams was just as good for the Kings. He torched backup goalie Darcy Kuemper on a breakaway slap shot that buzzed Kuemper’s head and found the top of the net for his second goal of the game, putting L.A. up by three.
While the score was a blowout, the Wild has a surprising edge in one statistical category.
Wild down 3-0 after 2 in LA. Shots 12-9 for MIN. That's not a typo.
— Anthony LaPanta (@AnthonyLaPanta) April 5, 2013
Minnesota ended up out-shooting the Kings, 22-14.
Jason Pominville, playing in his first game for Minnesota after being traded from Buffalo, took two shots in 16-minutes and 32-seconds of ice time.
The Wild (21-14-2) can snap its three game losing streak Saturday at Columbus.
