After a few less-than-flattering comments from former Los Angeles Kings forward Gabe Vilardi, first about hockey in SoCal and then about Blake Lizotte, his return to Los Angeles was always going to be an emotional one.

After one period, the Kings were up 2-0 and Pierre-Luc Dubois had a point, things were looking good for the team. 

Then, six minutes into the second the game flipped. Nikolaj Ehlers sniped Cam Talbot which started a dominant rest of the game from the Winnipeg Jets.

On Ehlers' goal, Vilardi grabbed his first point against the Kings. He then registered three more, finishing the night with one goal and three primary assists. 

There was also a fair amount of jawing going on between Vilardi and the Kings' bench, a nice hit on Kings captain Anze Kopitar and some extracurriculars after the whistle involving Vilardi.

In the end, Vilardi had the last laugh, running away a 5-2 winner against his former team.

Never one to mince words, Vilardi was asked after the game if this closes a chapter for him. 

"No, no it doesn't, I mean obviously, you saw it out there," said Vilardi. "I was once here and now I'm gone, it's the same for everyone. I loved my time here, playing here, it was amazing, but at the end of the day, they didn't want me. So, it doesn't end anything."

Of course, it wasn't a lone effort from Vilardi even if he got most of the attention. 

All five goals came from Winnipeg's top line, including a monster game from Ehlers, and Todd McLellan had to tip his hat to that line.

"They played an outstanding game," said McLellan of the Jet's first line. "They were good, we didn't have an answer for them tonight. There's nothing wrong in admitting that because they deserve the praise because the three of them played really well."

Of course, McLellan didn't get sucked into the Vilardi revenge game narrative, deflecting a question about Vilardi's night postgame. 

"No, it's about the teams not individuals," said McLellan when asked if there's some extra sting when a player you just traded away has that kind of game. "I think earlier I gave that line a lot of credit, they played an excellent game."

While McLellan avoided getting sucked into the Vilardi narrative, other players did give their comments. 

At Wednesday's morning skate, Blake Lizotte was asked about Vilardi's comments directed at Lizotte's "stupid play" in Vilardi's eyes.

"He can think what he wants," Lizotte said. "He’s right for the way I would never intentionally take a guy’s knees out. I think that’s inhumane or that’s terrible sportsmanship and I would never personally do that. He felt that it was a dirty hit and I felt that it was just playing hard. It’s unfortunate that he got hurt."

"We played together here for a few years. I hate to see guys get hurt. If he wants to feel that way about it, he has the right to. I don’t want him to be hurt. It happened. I felt bad about it. But at the end of the day, I felt I was playing hard. That’s my style, playing hard. Stuff happens when you play hard. I’ll leave it at that."

Matt Roy was also asked about some of the jawing between Kings players and Vilardi and some of the after-the-whistle shots sent toward Vilardi.

"Gabe is entitled to his opinions. We can disagree with what he said. We can just leave it at that.” said Roy.

This was an emotional night for Vilardi, putting up a big performance against the team that, "didn't want" him in his eyes. But for some Kings fans, this was early proof of a Rob Blake mistake.

Many fans felt Vilardi wasn't a piece worth giving up for Dubois, that he was already as good, if not better, a player, with a higher ceiling as well.

While we can't make that judgment 26 games into Dubois' career, Wednesday's game certainly gives some ammunition to fans who felt the trade was a mistake.

I'm sure both teams have the April 1 rematch circled on their calendar now. 

As Vilardi said, this chapter isn't over.