The Wild scored a pair of goals in rapid succession to jump on the Kings, but a pointed LA elbow may be the bigger story.

Charlie Coyle and Cal Clutterbuck scored goals just 16 seconds apart and Niklas Backstrom made 22 saves to earn the Wild a 2-1 win. The Wild remain in seventh place in the Western Conference playoff race.

At 16:21 of the first period, the Wild punctuated a long possession in the LA zone with a nifty goal that saw Zach Parise find Charlie Coyle from behind the net for a 1-0 lead. Just :16 later, Clutterbuck streaked down the left wing side, picked a corner and sniped a goal just under the crossbar for a 2-0 lead.

The Kings cut the Wild lead in half with just 1.8 seconds left in the first period to make the score 2-1 after one period.

Halfway through the second period, the Kings' Dustin Brown was playing a puck near the half-wall when Jason Pominville skated in to try and jam the puck free. As he approached Brown raised his elbow and caught Pominville in the head, knocking the Wild forward down to the ice. Pominville struggled to his feet and was very slow to leave the ice. He did not return for the remainder of the game and his condition was unknown immediately after the game.

The Wild are now two points clear of eighth place Columbus, and three points ahead of ninth place Detroit. The Wild have two games remaining in the regular season, with a home game Friday against Edmonton preceding a road contest at Colorado Saturday night.

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