Don’t blame Ben Bishop if, deep down, he was glad that he didn’t make his Los Angeles Kings debut on Monday.
After seeing the kind of speed, drive and all-around electric play displayed by the Minnesota Wild, you can understand a goalie shuddering at the often wide-open action. Despite falling behind four times against the Kings, the Wild ultimately edged Los Angeles 5-4 in an overtime thriller.
Mikael Granlund’s 20th goal of the season ended it in OT, and quickly. And it was beautiful:
.... Unless you’re Jonathan Quick and the Kings, that is.
Welcome back, Jonathan Quick!! pic.twitter.com/7cMOM3Zhzk
— PumperNicholl (@PumperNicholl) February 28, 2017
Granlund is absolutely on fire right now.
42 points in the past 35 games for Granlund, in his 300th game
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 28, 2017
Ryan White made a great first impression for the Wild, scoring a goal and an assist (while displaying great flow). Martin Hanzal wasn’t able to score, though he did make his presence felt with five hits. And, again, Bishop might have secretly been relieved to put his Kings debut on hold.
Marian Gaborik turned back the clock a bit to his Wild prime, scoring a goal and an assist. He generally made quite a bit happen for Los Angeles.
It was a tough one for Anze Kopitar, meanwhile, who was unable to generate offense and suffered a -3. He wasn’t able to stop Granlund in OT, though who could?
The Wild still must worry as mumps sidelined at least Zach Parise and Jason Pominville, but for now, they’re battling on. Just ask the Kings how resilient this group really is.
Bruce on mumps:"You just sit there and go, 'here we go.' Sometimes you have to just grit it out & let emotion take over. that's what we did"
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 28, 2017