LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gabe Vilardi scored his second straight game-winning goal, Jonathan Quick made 21 saves and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Minnesota Wild 1-0 on Tuesday night.
It was a much different game than in October, when the Kings beat Minnesota 7-6.
“The last game we played against them was pretty crazy, back and forth. It’s kind of been that way over the years, so it’s good to get the goose egg and play well in front of the Quickies,” Kings defenseman Matt Roy said.
Vilardi beat Marc-Andre Fleury between his legs with a one-timer from the high post with 6:03 left.
“In my opinion, I want to stop them all, right? It doesn’t matter what the score is,” Fleury said. “Obviously, I’d like to stop this one and maybe take this one to overtime.”
That was all Quick needed as he posted his second shutout against the Wild and the 57th of his remarkable career. He ranks second among active goaltenders in shutouts, and Quick is tied with rookie goaltender Clint Benedict of the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Maroons for 22nd in career shutouts.
The speedster needs two more to crack the top 20 all-time.
“It’s a tough league when you try to outscore teams, so we know in the locker room we have the strength to play that way,” he said. “And obviously, it all starts with goaltending. You need to save when the team needs you.”
Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty had assists on Vilardi’s 10th goal of the season to help the Kings to their third straight home win.
Vilardi matched his career high by hitting the mark 15 games after needing 54 in the 2020-21 campaign.
Fleury stopped 29 shots in the loss.
“We did a lot of good things in that hockey game,” Wild coach Dean Evanson said. “We just didn’t make it (to overtime), but our group played well enough to, I hate to say, deserve better, but we should have been in a better position at the end.”
HACK AND SLASH
Kirill Kapryzov received a match penalty for a cross-check on Doughty with 5:12 left in the second period. Evanson said Kaprizov’s frustrations spilled over the lack of protection from officials.
“He has the puck all the time,” Evason said. “He gets so much attention. He has it, spins back and forth, but there are no calls. Even before that call, he’s being scrutinized and hurt, and it looks like he’s frustrated. We are all frustrated because it is not taken care of and there are rules. Obviously, we think that a player of his caliber who keeps the puck all the time should be given a few more penalties. This is not happening.”
NICE TO SEE YOU
The Wild welcomed forward Jordan Greenway, who appeared in just one of their first 11 games because of a troubled left shoulder. He had surgery over the summer that kept him out of training camp and the first three games of the season.
Greenway made his season debut on Oct. 20 against Vancouver but lasted just 2:58 before suffering a non-procedural injury to the same shoulder.
NOTES: Wild F Marcus Foligno (upper body) participated in morning practice and could be back in Seattle on Friday. … Kings F Quinton Byfield was sent to the AHL to rehab after missing six games with an illness.
FURTHER
Wild: At the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night to complete the Southern California back-to-back.
Kings: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
