Late goal lifts Kings over Florida, 5-4 LA, Florida still having issues finding a winning consistency

In Los Angeles, Gabriel Vilardi hit for the game-winner on Saturday in a 5-4 win for the Kings over the visiting Florida Panthers.

“It went wide and I kind of read that it was going wide, and I got a lucky bounce,” Vilardi said. “It kind of came out just on the other side of the goal line. It ended up going in.”

Jonathan Quick made 34 saves in the LA.

The Kings improved to 7-6-1.

Trevor Moore had a goal for the Kings.

“We have a lot of young guys that are growing and getting that confidence, and we’re getting good depth. I mean, we have four lines who can score now, so when you have four lines that can score, it kind of rolls over and you can get more sustained O-zone,” Moore said.

Carter Verhaeghe hit for a double for the Panthers.

“There’s defensive breakdowns that happened,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I’m not going to pick on anybody for tonight. We gave up five, and that’s too big a number.”

The Panthers dropped to 6-5-1.

The game was back and forth affair with the Panthers taking a 1-0 lad in the first period off a strike from Ryan Lomberg .

LA tied it, 1-1, in the middle frame off a goal from Rasmus Kupari .

Moore  and Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk traded markers for a 2-2 tie.

“Lots of highs and lows throughout the night, change of momentum,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “Open, and then tight checking. It had a little bit of everything.”

With 26 seconds left in the second, Viktor Arvidsson  put the Kings up, 3-2.

Florida knotted the game with 78 seconds gone in the third when Eetu Luostarinen scored for the 3-3, tie.

“I think we have an attacking mindset with the puck, which is good,” said Kings defenseman Matt Roy, who found Lizotte with a stretch pass. “I think guys want to score more, and I think we’re trying to find more ways to score.”

LA’s Blake Lizotte and Florida’s Verhaeghe  exchanged goals for a 4-4 tie.

“It’s a tough one to swallow,” Verhaeghe said. “We came back and battled back quite a bit there, and just seems like they got the last [break] there.”

Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves in the Panthers loss.