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The Los Angeles Kings picked up their first home win of the season last night, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2.
Jaret Anderson-Dolan got into action for the first time this season, replacing Viktor Arvidsson who was out with an illness.
Phillip Danault got Los Angeles on the board first, whacking away at a puck in front to score about seven minutes into the game. However, later in the frame, Jonathan Quick mishandled a puck coming towards him and poked it right off Brandon Hagel, who went to the backhand to score and even the game. It was still a pretty low-event frame overall with each team managing only seven shots but there were some pretty good chances exchanged for how few shots we saw.
Tampa Bay took the play to the Kings for the first few minutes of the second period but Los Angeles managed to take the lead on a power play, as Drew Doughty’s point shot was tipped in by Gabriel Vilardi. Los Angeles was able to start sustaining pressure after that and later in the period, Arthur Kaliyev put a great pass over to Brandt Clarke, who then fed Blake Lizotte in front for Lizotte's first goal of the season, putting the Kings up 3-1. It did look like the Lightning had tied it right afterwards but the goal was quickly overturned due to an offside, keeping Los Angeles’ two-goal lead intact through 40 minutes.
The third peirod was the Kings’ best, killing off an early 5-on-3 and controlling the period afterwards. They outshot Tampa Bay 15-9 in the frame and with a little under six minutes to go, Adrian Kempe went down on a rush and ripped a shot past Vasilevskiy. The Lightning did get one back with about two minutes to go but the Kings still hung on for the 4-2 win.
It’s a key win for the Kings to get back to .500, after blowing a lead against Washington over the weekend. The Pacific Division hasn't been very competitive to this point but the difference between getting to 4-4-0 rather than going down to 3-5-0 (especially with some tough games coming up) is notable, even this early.
The Kings limited Tampa Bay to just 25 shots and killed off all four of the Lightning’s power plays, which was great to see. It also marks their first home win of the season, after dropping their first two games of the year in Los Angeles (though the Kings were a better team on the road than at home last year).
Gabriel Vilardi continued his excellent start to the season, picking up a goal and an assist in the win. Through the first eight games of the year, he’s sitting at five goals and nine points.
It’s a pretty huge development as even though Vilardi looked great in the preseason, we couldn’t really be sure that he was set for a breakout year. But he’s been one of the Kings’ best forwards to this point, looking way more comfortable with the puck under pressure and doing a better job finding lanes in the offensive zone.
I also thought Jaret Anderson-Dolan looked pretty good, using his speed on a couple of rushes. That said, he played only about 7:30 in the game altogether.
The Kings’ next game comes tomorrow, when they host the Winnipeg Jets.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
Kings announce opening night roster
Late goal sinks Kings in opening night loss to Golden Knights
Brandt Clarke makes NHL debut in Kings' 4-1 loss to Kraken
Kings pick up first win of season in Kevin Fiala's return to Minnesota
Kings earn key overtime win in Detroit
Kings battle back to defeat Predators in shootout
Kings’ three-game road winning streak snapped in loss to Penguins
Kings collapse in third period, blow lead in loss to Capitals 
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