Vilardi, Kopitar score in third, Kings beat Canadiens 3-2
By Dan Greenspan, The Associated Press on March 2, 2023.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Gabe Vilardi and Anze Kopitar scored in the third period and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Thursday night. Alex Iafallo also scored and Pheonix Copley made 19 saves to help the Kings win their fourth straight home game. Josh Anderson had a power-play goal for Montreal. Denis Gurianov also scored and Jake Allen made 30 saves. Vilardi put Los Angeles up 2-1 at 7:27 of the third, shooting into the top netting with Allen down on one knee. Kopitar made it 3-1 1:03 later on a wrist shot from the slot. Gurianov cut it to 3-2 with 10:21 remaining, getting his first goal in two games since being acquired in a trade from Dallas. The Kings tied it at 1 at 7:42 of the second when Vilardi found Iafallo in the slot for a wrist shot finish. Anderson scored his 18th goal of the season midway through the first, taking advantage of Adrian Kempe’s inadvertent deflection of a pass by Nick Suzuki to beat Copley five-hole from close range on a power play. Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov made his Kings debut after being acquired along with goalie Joonas Korpisalo from Columbus in a trade Wednesday. Gavrikov was mostly solid after being held out of the lineup by the Blue Jackets since Feb. 11 for trade-related reasons, but it was his interference penalty that led to the Canadiens’ successful power play. WORTH NOTING Korpisalo could make his Kings debut against the Blues on Saturday. “¦ Canadiens D Justin Barron sustained an upper-body injury in the first period and did not return. “¦ Canadiens D Joel Edmundson (lower body) played for the first time since Jan. 26. “¦ Montreal played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. UP NEXT Canadiens: At Anaheim on Friday night. Kings: Host St. Louis on Saturday night. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports(backslash) 15-14
