LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gabe Vilardi had a goal and an assist, Phillip Danault scored for the second straight game and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Tuesday night.
Blake Lizotte and Adrian Kempe both had a goal, Jonathan Quick made 24 saves and the Kings snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Lightning.
“Yeah, they’re a good team. They’ve been to the Cup final, whatever it is, three years in a row now,” Vilardi said. “But like I said, I think we’re a good team, too, so we have to beat teams like this, especially on home ice.”
Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed four goals on 33 shots in the opener of Tampa Bay’s three-game California road trip.
“We had some open looks, and we can’t give those up,” Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. “We had our chances, too. It was one of those nights that didn’t go our way, so get back to work tomorrow.”
The Kings struck twice in the second period, reclaiming the lead on Vilardi’s power-play goal at 5:03 when he tipped Drew Doughty’s slap shot.
“He’s got a lot of confidence off the power play right now,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “I think as he leaves the rink every day, he’s really enjoying the game. And he’s earned it.”
Lizotte made it 3-1 when he scored off Brandt Clarke’s no-look pass with 6:43 left.
“I knew that I had a lot of time and space in the middle of the ice. Make something happen, and that’s what happened,” Clarke said.
It appeared Hedman halved Tampa Bay’s deficit 49 seconds later, but the goal was waved off after a challenge by the Kings showed Corey Perry was offside.
Kempe scored his fifth of the season with 5:30 left in the third for a 4-1 lead, keeping pace with Vilardi for the team lead.
Kucherov cut it to 4-2 with 2:16 to play and Vasilevskiy on the bench for an extra skater.
POWER OUTAGE
Tampa Bay was 0 for 4 on the power play, failing to convert with a two-man advantage for 40 seconds early in the third.
“Well, you’re pretty much going to grade things on if you score or not. You get a 5-on-3 for an extended amount of time and do nothing with it, it doesn’t help your chance of winning,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.