Vilardi again lifts the streaking Kings
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Gabriel Vilardi scored the deciding goal for the second straight game and Cal Petersen stopped 22 shots as the Kings beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.
The Kings have earned points in five straight games since a five-game losing streak.
“You lose five in a row, it’s hard to keep the energy up at practice, it’s hard to keep the energy up in the room,” said defenseman Drew Doughty, who had two assists. “Everyone’s not happy because you’re losing games. When you’re winning games, everything’s just more fun.”
The Kings beat the Coyotes 3-2 on Thursday when Vilardi scored in the fourth round of a shootout. Vilardi came through again, beating Darcy Kuemper with a wrister shortly after Arizona’s Phil Kessel tied it.
Trevor Moore also scored for the Kings, and Alex
Iafallo sealed it with an empty-net goal, his second score of the game.
The Coyotes had a good early jump and Petersen was tested early, nearly doing the splits to get a pad on John Hayden’s shot from the slot. Arizona closed the period with a flurry of shots, but Petersen was sharp.
Iafallo scored a powerplay goal early in the second period, beating Kuemper glove side from the left
circle — not long after Arizona’s Tyler Pitlick hit the post.
Derick Brassard answered with a power-play goal of his own, scoring from the right circle on a shot that hit Kings defenseman Olli Maatta out front.
The Coyotes closed the second period and opened the third on the power play after Conor Garland was cross-checked twice, including one to the face by
Austin Strand.
Instead of taking advantage, Arizona gave up a short-handed goal 52 seconds into the third period. Moore had it, beating Kuemper after the puck caromed right to him off Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun’s stick.
Before the game, the Kings activated winger Andreas Athanasiou from the COVID-19 protocol list and placed Martin Frk on injured reserve.
Jaret Anderson-Dolan suffered a lower-body injury Thursday and did not play Saturday.