Jets Upset Kings 5-2 As Gabe Vilardi Stalks His Previous Team
On Wednesday night, the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Kings 5-2 thanks to a career-high four points from goal and three assists from Gabe Vilardi, who made an outstanding comeback to Los Angeles.
In his first game against the Kings since being selected with the 11th choice in the 2017 draft, Vilardi notched his second goal of the year early in the third period, capping the greatest scoring performance of his five-year career.
In the summer of last year, the Kings traded Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Jets for Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and him. If being out until November 30 wasn’t enough motivation, Vilardi suffered a right knee injury after being tripped by Blake Lizotte of Los Angeles during the Kings’ 5-1 victory in Winnipeg two months earlier.
The Jets overcame an early two-goal setback to wrap up their four-game West Coast trip with three victory thanks to two goals from Nikolaj Ehlers in a three-goal second period and a late assist. In total, Winnipeg has taken five of six.
For Winnipeg, Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves, while Mark Scheifele ended with two goals and an assist after scoring an empty-net goal. Vilardi was the main assister on all three of the Jets’ goals in the second half.
The Kings have dropped their first three games of the season, but rookie Alex Laferriere made history with an incredible goal from behind the extended goal line. For the fourth time in 21 games, Los Angeles was unable to gain a point after blowing a robust first period with a lackluster second.
Cam Talbot made 24 saves, and Captain Anze Kopitar added a goal as well. After the deal, Dubois has faced the Jets twice and has one assist in both games. On October 17, Dubois scored a goal during Los Angeles’ 5-1 victory at Winnipeg.
Midway through the first quarter, on a power play, Kopitar scored his 11th goal of the game by grabbing his own rebound in front of the net. Then, from an almost unachievable angle, Laferriere scored his third goal of the campaign. At the corner, the 22-year-old forward took a shot with the ball a few inches behind the red line, but it ascended on the ideal trajectory to go over Hellebuyck’s shoulder, behind his neck and into the net.
Taking a drop feed from Vilardi, Ehlers scored his seventh goal to put Winnipeg ahead early in the second half. It was tied seven minutes later by the Danish forward.
With his tenth goal of the season, Scheifele gave the Jets the lead by grabbing a rebound behind the net and wrapping it around.
