For the second time this season, the Kings defeated the Wild on Tuesday night — only this version came wrapped in a completely different blanket. Last month, it came in the form of a 7-6 barn burner in Minnesota. For the rematch, things came down to Gabe Vilardi and Jonathan Quick; a pair of fairly common themes over the past six weeks.
In net, Quick earned his first shutout of the season by stopping all 21 shots sent his direction. It also marked the 57th time he’s not allowed a goal in his career.
Up front, Vilardi stole the show with his third game-winning goal of the young campaign. By scoring his tenth goal of the season, the 23-year-old forward also matched his career-high from 2020-21. He now only trails Connor McDavid (14) and Bo Horvat (12) in the race for most NHL goals.
Per NHL PR, only three Kings players in the past 30 years have required fewer games than 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).
Below are select highlights from the game:
Additional Post-Game Notes
Match penalty on Kaprizov
Cue the GIF of Doughty
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 9, 2022
— Eric (@kingsgifs2) November 9, 2022
#mnwild shut out in consecutive games. Hadn’t played since Thursday and generated squat offensively. Kaprizov booted, although it would surprise me if he doesn’t play vs. Anaheim. All glove to Doughty’s face after being goaded
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) November 9, 2022
More Evason: "We don’t want to whine. But it’s a joke that we have one power play, and it’s for their guy holding our guy at the penalty box. So, thank you. We got mauled at the end. We’re trying to score. We’re trying to get in, and the whistle’s gone. There's no more calls."
— Sarah McLellan (@sarah__mclellan) November 9, 2022
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