ST. PAUL, Minn. _ If the post is a goalie's best friend, Darcy Kuemper owes both of his a steak dinner or three.
The Los Angeles Kings struck iron three times in the first period Tuesday night, and that safety night supplied enough of a cushion for the Wild to settle into the hockey game and ultimately open the floodgates during a 6-3 victory.
Soon after killing a two-man advantage in the second period, the Wild rode the momentum to three goals in a 4 {-minute span to end backup goalie Jeff Zatkoff's night to open the third period.
Charlie Coyle got it started with a power-play goal, and that was followed by a sliding Mikko Koivu popping in his first of the season followed by Teemu Pulkkinen's first in a Wild sweater.
The onslaught actually began in the first period when last year's red-hot trifecta of Nino Niederreiter, Erik Haula and Jason Pominville accounted for two goals. Kuemper, who won six games last season, was under attack all third period but held on for a 27-save win. With the Wild dragging all third period, Jared Spurgeon iced things with a 200-foot empty-netter.
Pominville started the season in St. Louis on the right side of Mikael Granlund and Koivu, but against Winnipeg in the home opener, Chris Stewart and Pominville flipped spots.
Stewart ended up with a goal and assist against the Jets, and even though the Niederreiter-Haula-Pominville line was shut out statistically, Bruce Boudreau lauded the work they did in all three zones.
They wouldn't be blanked against the Kings. The Wild wasn't the better team in the opening 20, but it carried a 2-1 lead into the second thanks to a Pominville-and-Niederreiter-to-Haula goal 46 seconds after Tanner Pearson opened the scoring in the first period, then a Pominville snap shot with 12 seconds left in the period.
Pominville streaked down the left wing, looked up, picked his spot and fired far side against Zatkoff, subbing for injured Jonathan Quick. Zatkoff, who gave up five goals on 16 shots, also gave up a soft goal to Haula.
Pominville didn't score until Nov. 28 last season, going the first 21 games last season without a goal.
Former Wild interim coach John Torchetti discovered gold when he put Niederreiter, Haula and Pominville together in February. Together, Haula scored nine goals and 21 points and was plus-14 in 23 games, Niederreiter scored 11 goals and 19 points and was plus-10 in 23 games and Pominville had 15 points and was plus-13 in 15 games.
In the second, the Wild, which didn't give up a shot in the first eight minutes, got into trouble with penalties that gave the Kings a 49-second 5-on-3. Kuemper made one save, and Koivu did a tremendous job both winning draws and blocking a shot on the disadvantage.
Finally, not long after all three coaches on the bench reacted frustratingly with Coyle for not pulling the trigger against a goalie fighting the puck, Coyle scored his second goal of the season on a Ryan Suter rebound. Soon after, Koivu buried Granlund's rebound and Pulkkinen, a waiver pickup from Detroit, deflected home Jonas Brodin's point shot for a 5-1 lead.
Kuemper responded after Pearson's early goal, the first of his two. Kuemper entered with a career 1.82 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in five games against the Kings, but Boudreau said before the game, "It wouldn't have mattered if he was 0-18, he was playing."
Boudreau doesn't want Kuemper getting stale sitting behind Devan Dubnyk.
"He's worked hard in practice and you want to get the guys into the games early," Boudreau said Tuesday morning. "You don't want to let them sit for a month and then say, 'Go win one for ya,' so he's getting his opportunity now."
