The first game of the trip will put a premium on avoiding or killing Blues power plays, while the Kings must get better with the power play.
A successful homestand may have given the Kings confidence but it offered zero opportunity for rest and recuperation.
First they’ll be in St. Louis to take on the Blues on Monday before a showdown with the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars on Tuesday and a visit to Chicago to face the rival Blackhawks Thursday. In between, they dropped a game to the Winnipeg Jets that saw them burned by poor special-teams play and risky decisions, which led to six goals against on just 18 shots.
“We should score a power-play goal every game,” Vilardi said. “If we get four or five looks, which we’ve been getting every night, we should be scoring a goal a game.”