ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota Wild head coach Mike Yeo gave thought to pulling goaltender Darcy Kuemper after Los Angeles scored twice. Yeo contemplated the decision again after another goal.
Not pulling Kuemper early enough was among Yeo's regrets as the Wild lost 4-0 to Los Angeles.
Kuemper allowed four goals on 10 shots in the first period. Niklas Backstrom replaced Kuemper in net for the final two periods and made 12 saves.
"Obviously, I regret not doing that now," Yeo said of pulling Kuemper earlier. "I regret not doing that when I thought even after the third goal, 'OK, it's a minute, 30 left, let's give Backy a chance to have a bit of a stretch in-between periods. Thought we could get through that.
"The list of regrets that I have right now is very long."
Kuemper allowed his first goal 4 minutes, 21 seconds in. Minnesota, which had won five of its previous six games, appeared ready to head into the first intermission down 2-0. But Los Angeles scored twice in the final two minutes, including the final goal with 9.6 seconds left.
Kuemper had won three of his four starts since being pulled in the first period against Buffalo on Nov. 13.
"Off night for myself," Kuemper said. "Just was off a little bit tonight and it cost me."
Kuemper was under pressure throughout the first period and the final two goals came on odd-man rushes after the Wild turned the puck over.
"It got away from us in a hurry there," forward Zach Parise said.
Coming off a road trip in which Minnesota went 2-1, Yeo said the team lacked the details and execution despite good energy.
"Not even close to the way we're supposed to play the game," Yeo said. "It's one thing to have energy and to want to go and to want to do good things, but there's a way that you have to do it."
The Wild outshot Los Angeles 10-5 in the second period and Backstrom didn't face the same pressure as Kuemper. But Minnesota was shut out for the second time this season while losing at home for just the second time.
Yeo worried about a sluggish start in a one-game return to Minnesota.
"The list of regrets that I have is pretty long right now," Yeo said. "Wish I would've done some different things to try to alter our focus and our mindset coming into this game."
The Wild leave again for a one-game road trip to Dallas on Friday before hosting the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
"We were playing well on the road, so I think we're going to have some confidence," Kuemper said. "I think there's going to be a lot of hungry guys. I think we're going to be fine here, just off game. I put the team in a bad spot early and we're going to bounce back good here."
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