FINAL - Kings 4, Lightning 2 - Danault, Vilardi, Clarke, McLellan - LA Kings Insider
# FINAL - Kings 4, Lightning 2 - Danault, Vilardi, Clarke, McLellan - LA Kings Insider
# Contributors
# Summary
The LA Kings evened their record on the season at 4-4-0 with a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday evening at Crypto.com Arena.
# Players
# Staff
# Notes and Quotes
# Gabe Vilardi
I’m just playing hard, that’s it. I’m just trying to keep it simple and play hard every game. Arvy goes out, that’s a tough loss for the team. When I slid in, I got to play with Mooresy and Phil, who I played with a little bit in the preseason, and that was a big win for our team today.
I think our neutral zone tonight, they didn’t create much coming through there and I think we held them up really well. Our breakouts were cleaner as the game went on and that was huge for us in transitioning from defense to offense.
# Brandt Clarke
It was kind of late in the shift, so I’m happy that [Blake Lizotte] finished it off so the guy wasn’t going the other way. I knew that I had a lot of time and space in the middle of the ice and when Arty got me the puck, I just tried to make something happen.
I’m just letting things take care of themselves. I’m doing video with the coaches, I’m still a part of the team, so I’m just going day by day and enjoying my experience right now. I’ve been welcomed into the NHL and I’m just happy with how everything is. I’m happy to be on this team and just going to keep going for here.
I think it’s huge. Coming off the tail end of that road trip, we didn’t finish how we wanted to, especially in that third period against Washington. I think it was a big step for us. It’s a talented team and going in with a two-goal lead again into the third period, we didn’t want to blow the lead last time but I think we used it as a good learning lesson. We kept the pedal to the medal for all 60 minutes this time.
# Todd McLellan
I thought our penalty kill was very good, against an outstanding [power play]. There were a whole bunch of good things tonight, but I thought our penalty kill gave us a strong belief. 5-on-3, a few other situations, we drew a penalty on our penalty kill, great goaltending. That was a real important thing and then fewer homerun chances for the opposition. We’re not perfect, but there were fewer and I thought we committed more to checking than we have in the past.
Last season is last season, I think I’ve said this 100 times, this is a brand new slate for us. Yeah, there are some tendencies that showed up, which is a good sign, but I’d like to think we’re moving in the right direction, even the game in Washington, other than the comeback. We’re starting to do some things characteristic of last year, but this is this year’s group. We’ll still find our way and evolve as we go.
We aggressively checked, and sometimes when you ask your team to check, they back off and they’re just standing and taking it, but we aggressively checked. When we had to go up ice, we went up ice. When we had to do what we needed to do in the neutral zone, we did it. We were all playing the same system for the most part, versus off on our own.
I can’t say enough about the young man, [Gabe Vilardi]’s been outstanding since training camp. The fact that Arvy wasn’t able to go after warmup, it was a bit of a surprise to us, but things got shuffled quickly and he has the toolkit to be playing up there. He’s got a lot of confidence on the power play right now, he’s checking well, using his body, his size. I think, as he leaves the rink every day, he’s really enjoying the game and he’s earned it.
I think the fact that we keep using [Brandt Clarke], and putting him out in all situations. Special teams, 4-on-4, down by a goal, up by a goal, he seems to find his way out on the ice, so obviously we believe in him or we wouldn’t be doing that. The organization has to sit down and make decisions on what’s right for him, for us, for the future, for now. All Brandt has to do is worry about practice tomorrow and he’s done a really good job of that and he’s gotten great guidance from the older players in the locker room. That’s all he has to worry about, and he keeps worrying about only the next day, pretty soon it’s going to be June of next year and he’ll be flying home. If he gets too far ahead of himself, it gets tough.