Calvin Petersen makes 32 saves, Kings hold on to beat Wild

Carl Grundstrom and Kurtis MacDermid scored, and Calvin Petersen made 32 saves as the L.A. Kings held on to beat the Minnesota Wild 2-1 on Tuesday night.

For the third time in three games between the teams, Los Angeles squandered a third-period lead. But this time, the Kings bounced back and earned the win after two losses at home to start the season.

Grundstrom skated from the side boards to the middle of the offensive zone and wristed a quick shot past Kaapo Kahkonen’s glove for his second goal in as many games. Los Angeles has won three of four after starting the season 0-2-1.

“We won, not the way we want to win tonight, but a win is a win,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said.

Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season just 1:09 into the third to tie the game. Kahkonen made 19 saves for Minnesota, which has lost two in a row.

“I think they made a pretty good job of taking away our speed in the neutral zone in the first period,” Eriksson Ek said. “We couldn’t really get through. I think it got better in the second and third, but yeah, we want to get out there, we want to get that first goal and we couldn’t do it today.”

The teams opened the season with a two-game series in Los Angeles where the Kings had 3-1, third-period leads in both games. The Wild came back to win each game 4-3.

Petersen kept Minnesota from adding another comeback victory.

Making his third start of the season, Petersen stood tall as the Wild outshot Los Angeles 27-9 over the final two periods.

“I think it’s just more so building with each game,” Petersen said. “It’s been awhile since we played hockey and I think any game experience I can get, I’m just trying to get better with each game.”

MacDermid started the scoring in the second with his first goal of the season.

Eriksson Ek tied it up with his third in four games, jamming the puck between Petersen’s skate and the goal post after several swings.