Montreal Canadiens vs Los Angeles Kings Match Player Stats On Mar 02, 2023

Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and an assist for the Los Angeles Kings in a 3-2 win against the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

Alex Iafallo and Anze Kopitar also scored and Pheonix Copley made 19 saves for the Kings, who have won three of four to move into a tie in points with the Vegas Golden Knights atop the Pacific Division standings.

Josh Anderson and Denis Gurianov scored and Jake Allen made 30 saves for Montreal, which had won three of four.

Vilardi gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead at 7:27 of the third period when a centering pass caromed to him at the side of the crease and he stuffed the puck in the net.

Kopitar scored with a wrist shot at 8:30 to stretch the lead to 3-1, but the Canadiens quickly cut the deficit back to a goal.

Gurianov scored with a slap shot from just above the left circle at 9:39, his first goal with Montreal since he was traded from the Dallas Stars on Sunday.

The Kings had to kill a penalty 25 seconds into the game when Blake Lizotte was whistled for high-sticking Jesse Ylonen.

The Canadiens went back on the power play after Vladislav Gavrikov was called for interference at 8:19, and Anderson scored on the man-advantage 55 seconds later for a 1-0 lead.

Montreal tried to center a pass that went off the stick of Kings forward Adrian Kempe and headed toward the crease. Los Angeles defenseman Mikey Anderson tried to sweep it aside, but it went off Josh Anderson and into the net for his 18th goal of the season, one shy of his total last season.

The Kings tied it at 7:42 of the second.

Los Angeles lost a faceoff in the Montreal zone, but the Kings quickly got the puck back and Vilardi passed to Iafallo, who scored his ninth goal of the season with a wrist shot from the slot.

Allen was coming off a 38-save effort in a 3-1 road win against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.

--Field Level Media