Heading into Tuesday night's matchup against the Minnesota Wild, the Kings were coming off of an eventful 5-4 victory over the Florida Panthers. Not to mention the last time the Wild and Kings faced off in mid-October, the teams combined for 13 goals. So more of the same, right? Wrong, very wrong.
In complete contrast from the games previously mentioned, the low scoring battle between the Wild and Kings on Tuesday saw a much more structured game. The first two periods did not surrender any goals, but it did provide some contentious moments. Highlighted by a Kirill Kaprisov match penalty for high-sticking on Drew Doughty, the Wild forward was tossed from the game and resulted in a five minute power play for the Kings. Unfortunately, the Kings did not convert on the man advantage opportunity and would head to the final period knotted at 0-0.
Still without a goal from either team deep into the game, Gabriel Vilardi broke the tie with 6:03 remaining in regulation when he received a pass from Anze Kopitar and put it by Marc-Andre Fleury, beating him five-hole. The goal was Vilardi's 10th on the season, tying his career-high previously set in the 2020-21 season through 54 games. It also marked his third game-winning goal of the year, also tying his career-high set in 2020-21. Vilardi now trails only Edmonton's Connor McDavid (14) and Vancouver's Bo Horvat (12) for most goals among all players in the league. Also, per NHL PR, only three Kings players in the past 30 years have required fewer games than Gabriel Vilardi (15 GP) to reach 10 goals in a single season: Michael Cammalleri (10 GP in 2007-08), Anze Kopitar (12 GP in 2009-10) and Luc Robitaille (12 GP in 1999-00 & 13 GP in 1992-93). Lastly, Vilardi's goal against the Wild was his fifth consecutive home game with a goal, making him first Kings player to register a home goal streak of five-plus games since Jeff Carter in 2012-13 (7 GP).
11/8 FINAL - Kings 1, Wild 0
Kings blank Wild for second consecutive win.
Vilardi's goal, Quick's shutout lead Kings to 1-0 win
