-
Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick makes a save on a shot from Arizona Coyotes right wing Clayton Keller as referee Tom Chmielewski watches during the overtime shootout portion of Thursday night’s game in Glendale, Ariz. The Kings won, 3-2. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings right wing Alex Iafallo (19) battles with Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jason Demers, second from right, for the puck as Kings center Anze Kopitar (11) looks on during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter (77) goes after the puck after upending Arizona Coyotes center Christian Dvorak (18) as Kings center Anze Kopitar (11) helps his teammates out out during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar (11) celebrates a goal by Kings’ Dustin Brown against Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper, right, during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter, right, scores a goal against Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper (35) as Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23) tries to help during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper (35) reaches out to make a save on a shot from Los Angeles Kings right wing Alex Iafallo (19) as Coyotes center Christian Dvorak (18) looks on during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings right wing Dustin Brown (23) pauses on the ice as the Arizona Coyotes celebrate a goal by Coyotes’ Conor Garland during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Arizona Coyotes right wing Conor Garland (83) celebrates his goal against the Los Angeles Kings with Coyotes’ defenseman Jason Demers (55), right wing Clayton Keller (9) and center Nick Schmaltz, right, during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Arizona Coyotes right wing Phil Kessel (81) gets the puck past Los Angeles Kings right wing Adrian Kempe (9), Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (8), defenseman Mikey Anderson (44) as goaltender Jonathan Quick (32) is unable to see the puck as Kessel scores a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper (35) makes a save as Los Angeles Kings center Trevor Moore (12) and Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun (6) battle for position during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings right wing Alex Iafallo (19) battles with Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jason Demers, second from right, for the puck as Kings center Anze Kopitar (11) looks on during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick gets set to make a save against the Arizona Coyotes during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kings won 3-2 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Arizona Coyotes right wing Phil Kessel (81) defends against Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter (77) during overtime in an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kings won 3-2 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings right wing Alex Iafallo (19) gets off a pass as Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun (6) arrives late during overtime of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kings won 3-2 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper (35) watches the movement of the puck as Coyotes right wing Christian Fischer (36) arrives to control the puck near Los Angeles Kings right wing Dustin Brown (23) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kings won 3-2 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick (32) makes a save in front of Arizona Coyotes center Christian Dvorak (18) as Coyotes center Nick Schmaltz (8) and Kings defenseman Tobias Bjornfot (33) watch during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kings won 3-2 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick squirts water onto his face during the third period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kings won 3-2 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick (32) makes a save against Arizona Coyotes right wing Conor Garland (83) during a shootout of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kings defeated the Coyotes 3-2. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Los Angeles Kings’ Gabriel Vilardi, left, and Kings’ Drew Doughty, right, smile after a shootout win in an NHL hockey game against the Arizona Coyotes in which Vilardi scored the game winner Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kings defeated the Coyotes 3-2. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
-
Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick (32) is congratulated by teammates Trevor Moore (12), Adrian Kempe (9) and others after their 3-2 shootout victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Gabe Vilardi scored in the fourth round of a shootout, Jonathan Quick stopped 20 shots and the Kings defeated the Arizona Coyotes, 3-2, on Thursday night for their third straight victory.
“It was better that we shot second,” Vilardi said. “Their guy missed, so no pressure at all. I had a chance to finish it there for the team and I was lucky enough to do that.”
The Kings jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Dustin Brown and Jeff Carter.
The Coyotes rallied with two in the second – Phil Kessel’s first goal in 12 games and Conor Garland’s seventh of the season.
Quick made a sprawling save to stop Kessel early in overtime and had a couple more tough stops to send the game to a shootout.
Arizona’s Clayton Keller sent a shot over the goal in the fourth round of the shootout and Vilardi beat Darcy Kuemper glove side to end it.
Kuemper had 27 saves.
“It was just an ugly game,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. “I didn’t like our first, obviously. I didn’t see a lot of Grade-A’s from both teams.”
The Coyotes were glad to see someone else across the ice after playing St. Louis in the first seven-game, regular-season series in NHL or NBA history.
Arizona took that series 4-3, closing out Monday’s seventh game with a 1-0 victory behind Kuemper, who got his first shutout of the season.
The Kings didn’t take long to end Kuemper’s scoreless streak, scoring 4½ minutes in when Brown slipped a shot under Kuemper’s left pad. Anze Kopitar started the play by fishing the puck out of a scrum along the sideboards.
Carter made it 2-0 midway through the first period, poking the puck under Kuemper on a play that was initially ruled goalie interference but overturned on review.
“We knew they were going to come out like that and we just weren’t ready for them,” Coyotes forward Christian Dvorak said. “That’s not what we want.”
The Coyotes stormed back to start the second period.
Garland scored a minute in when his shot from the slot his Kings forward Alex Iafallo’s stick and caromed past Quick. Kessel tied it four minutes later with his fifth of the season, and first since Jan. 20, by flipping a rebound past Quick through traffic.
Kuemper and Quick were sharp in the third period, each making some difficult saves to force overtime.
Quick forced the Coyotes to miss the net twice in the shootout and the Kings scored on three of their four chances to win.
“We were happy with the first. Probably a little too happy because we didn’t respond early in the second,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said.
STRUGGLING POWER PLAY
The Coyotes had found a bit of a rhythm on their power play during the games in St. Louis.
They’ve been struggling since.
Arizona failed on its three chances with the man advantage against the Kings and has failed to score in its last 12 power-play chances.
“We’ve just got to work hard, make sure we’re getting our retrievals and just got to execute better,” Dvorak said. “They’re a hard team to play against. They’re not going to roll over and it took us two goals to figure that out.”
NUMBERS
Garland has nine points (five goals, four assists) in the past nine games. … Brown has scored four goals in the past four. … Arizona has scored in the second period in 14 of 16 games (18 goals) and its plus-11 differential in the period is third-best in the NHL. Kopitar and Adrian Kempe scored in the shootout for the Kings. Carl Grundstrom was stopped by Kuemper.
UP NEXT
The teams close out their two-game series in the desert on Saturday.
from Irvine Business Signs https://ift.tt/3dqRxTS
via Irvine Sign Company
from Irvine Business Signs https://ift.tt/3aBcgCQ
via Irvine Sign Company
