Kings Are Weary but Not Beaten

ST. PAUL, Minn. —  Even after twice giving up one-goal leads, the Kings found little to complain about after Tuesday night’s 2-2 tie with the Minnesota Wild.

Maybe they were too tired.

In the seventh game of an eight-game, 17-day trip, nearing the end of a stretch in which they will have played 13 of 15 games on the road, the Kings matched one of the NHL’s hottest teams goal for goal while killing seven penalties and generating 14 more shots on goal in front of a sellout crowd of 18,064 at Xcel Energy Center.

Of course, they might have fared better if they’d scored more than one goal while outshooting the Wild, 17-5, in the first period, but who’s to quibble?

“We’re disappointed we didn’t get two points,” King Coach Andy Murray said, “but with our work ethic we sent a message that we’re going to continue to battle and fight through everything we’ve had to fight through here in the last month.”

On Nov. 4, the night before they left on a trip that started Nov. 5 at San Jose and will end after Thursday night’s game at St. Louis, the Kings gave up three goals in the third period of a 5-2 loss to the Wild at Staples Center.

This time, they got a first-period goal from Ziggy Palffy, his third of the season and first not scored into an empty net since opening night, and a second-period goal from Alexander Frolov, who leads NHL rookies with six.

The Northwest Division-leading Wild countered with a second-period goal by Marian Gaborik and a third-period goal by Sergei Zholtok.

“I think we could have won this game,” said Palffy, whose goal was his 100th in 213 games with the Kings. “We just have to stay away from the box and play our game. If you’re going to play penalty killing, you’re getting more tired.”

The Kings, who had the man advantage only twice, had to kill only one penalty while dominating the first period. But all they had to show for it was Palffy’s goal, scored at 18:36 on a tap-in after a shot from the point by defenseman Chris McAlpine squirted between the legs of goaltender Dwayne Roloson.

With Roloson looking out toward the point, the puck landed behind him and Palffy streaked in to poke it into the unprotected net.

“I thought we had an opportunity to have a fairly good lead in the first period and we didn’t get it,” Murray said, “but the Wild is a good team, a resilient team.”

At 2:51 of the second period, Gaborik rifled a shot from the right faceoff circle that beat King goaltender Felix Potvin, pulling the Wild even.

Frolov scored on a rebound at 11:18, but Zholtok tied the score again at 5:48 of the third period, carrying the puck around defenseman Aaron Miller from near the right corner and beating Potvin with a backhanded shot from the slot.

After that, the Kings killed one more penalty, a slashing call against Mathieu Schneider that gave the Wild a man advantage over the last 1:24 of regulation and the first 36 seconds of overtime. Potvin was up to the challenge.

Then, in the last 29 seconds, the Kings had the advantage after the Wild was penalized for having too many players on the ice.

Roloson bobbled a last-second shot by Schneider but hung on.

The tie left the Kings with a 2-3-1-1 record on the trip, their longest in 18 years.

Since they first left home Oct. 22, they’re 5-5-2-2, 4-4-2-2 on the road.

“It’s really a battle to get up for these games right now,” Schneider said. “It’s just been such a grueling trip. The last 30 days have been incredible for us. To come out with an effort like we did tonight speaks volumes about our team.”