There’s usually plenty of sweeping up needed in St. Paul after the St. Patrick’s Day revelry concludes. Luckily, the Los Angeles Kings won’t be needing the brooms they brought along for their final regular-season trip to Minnesota.

Mats Zuccarello scored a power-play goal late in the third period as the Wild snapped the Kings’ five-game winning streak, and avoided a sweep of their season series with Los Angeles, winning 3-1 on Monday at Xcel Energy Center.

After Marco Rossi was tripped, sending the Wild to the man advantage, Minnesota moved the puck laterally in the offensive zone until Matt Boldy fed a pass to Zuccarello, who found a small gap just inside the left post for the game-winner. Marcus Johansson added an empty-net goal for Minnesota with 55.3 seconds left.

The much-needed victory came on a night where offense was once again at a premium and the Wild spent notable time killing penalties, but got enough goaltending and defense to beat the Kings for the first time in three tries this season.

Filip Gustavsson had 29 saves for Minnesota, which got a second period power play goal from Ryan Hartman to tie the game after the Kings scored on a power play of their own in the first. Hartman’s goal snapped a notable shutout streak by Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper, who was named the NHL’s first star of the week earlier on Monday and had 19 saves for Los Angeles, which had won the first two games versus the Wild this season.

Minnesota was playing without veteran forward Marcus Foligno for the first time this season, after he was scratched prior to warmups with an upper body injury. Brendan Gaunce took Foligno’s place in the lineup, skating in his eighth game this season.

The Wild played Los Angeles toe-to-toe for the first five minutes, before what can only be termed a soft slashing penalty called on Marco Rossi sent the Kings to the power play. Minnesota’s penalty kill, which has struggled much of the season, had negated seven consecutive penalties coming into Monday’s game, but the Kings ended that streak promptly, beating Gustavsson with a quick shot over his glove hand.

After a Wild push, the Kings were inches away from doubling their lead after two saves by Gustavsson, when Jon Merrill pulled the puck off the goal line and swatted it out of danger later in the first. The period ended with the Kings up 1-0, marking six consecutive games without a first period goal for Minnesota.

Los Angeles got a puck over the goal line on the opening shift of the middle frame, but Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke had made contact with Gustavsson before the shot, knocking the goalie out of position, and referees swiftly declared no goal.

Instead, it was the Wild forging a tie just four seconds after the first Kings penalty of the game. Jared Spurgeon’s shot to the net was deflected by Hartman and past Kuemper, snapping the Los Angeles goalie’s shutout streak of more than 176 minutes.

The Wild’s “every other day with a home game” schedule continues on Wednesday, with the Seattle Kraken making their second visit of the season to St. Paul. The game faces off at 8:30 p.m. CT. The Wild lost a shootout at home to Seattle in the second game of the season, and won 4-3 at Climate Pledge Arena on March 4.

Related Articles

In his second go-round, Gustav Nyquist has been a welcome Wild addition

Slumping Wild still looking for that ‘next man up’ amid current storm

Wild can’t match Blues’ desperation, as offense struggles again

Vinnie Hinostroza’s 400th game comes as he finds another playoff race

At home in the ‘dirty areas,’ Wild forward Marco Rossi is thriving