LOS ANGELES — It was the Gabe Vilardi revenge tour as the Winnipeg Jets forward victimized the Kings, his former team, for four points in a 5-2 victory on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
It loosely mirrored a 4-2 victory the Jets earned when they were last in Southern California, on Sunday, when they upended the Ducks after trailing 2-0, the same deficit they held against the Kings at the first intermission Wednesday.
Anze Kopitar and Alex Laferriere scored a goal apiece for the Kings, who wasted a strong first period with a dismal second period and have their first three-game losing streak of the season. Cam Talbot had 24 saves as the Kings failed to earn a point for only the fourth time in 21 games.
Vilardi stacked up a career-high four points, with plenty of wry smiles and chirps along the way. That matched the total of Nicolas Ehlers (two goals, two assists) while Mark Scheifele contributed a goal and an assist. Vilardi scored a goal and set up both of Ehlers’ tallies and one of Scheifele’s. Connor Hellebuyck had 30 saves.
Vilardi, who the Kings drafted with the 11th overall pick in 2017, was the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade that sent him, Alex Iafallo (with whom Vilardi was honored in a video tribute on Wednesday) and Rasmus Kupari (who was injured Wednesday) in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois. If that wasn’t enough motivation, Vilardi then injured his right knee when the Kings’ Blake Lizotte tripped him during the Kings’ 5-1 win in Winnipeg two months ago, sidelining him until Nov. 30.
Dubois assisted on Laferriere’s goal to record his first point in seven outings, but Vilardi’s night was decidedly more noteworthy.
Just 2:30 into the third period, the Kings faced an uphill climb after Vilardi received Dylan DeMelo’s pass and lifted a backhand shot past an onlooking Jordan Spence and then Talbot’s glove.
The first 40 minutes were a tale of two periods in terms of the score and possession.
Scheifele gave the Jets their…
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