(Los Angeles) The relentlessness of the Los Angeles Kings got the better of the Habs on Thursday night.
Gabriel Vilardi and Anze Kopitar scored back-to-back in the third period as the California club beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 at Crypto.com Arena.
The Kings have particularly annoyed the Canadian in the last two periods. They were dangerous on the attack in addition to countering most of the attacks of the Habs thanks to their trap in the neutral zone.
Alex Iafallo also hit the target for the Kings (35-20-8). Pheonix Copley made 19 saves.
Josh Anderson and newcomer Denis Gurianov replied for the Canadian (26-31-4). Jake Allen stopped 30 shots.
Defender Joel Edmundson returned to action for the Habs after an 11-game absence with an upper body injury. Forward Chris Tierney was left out, while coach Martin St-Louis opted for a formation with seven defensemen and 11 forwards.
Defenseman Justin Barron left the game after two appearances in the first period with an upper body injury. He fell in action after taking a body check from Carl Grundstrom.
The Canadian will play again Friday night against the Ducks in Anaheim. In the meantime, the trading period will end at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
A good battle
The Canadian’s power play set the tone for the game. After threatening at the first opportunity, he generated the first goal of the game on a second chance with an extra man.
Anderson scored at 9:14 when a cross pass attempt from Nick Suzuki finally landed on his stick blade in front of the net.
PHOTO MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Josh Anderson
Mike Matheson also threatened late in the first period. Copley, however, resisted after a series of acrobatic maneuvers from the defender of the Canadian.
The Kings dominated play in the second period, but were limited to one goal.
Allen frustrated Kevin Fiala first, then Adrian Kempe. However, Iafallo finally tied the game at 7:42, shortly after a face-off to the left of the Canadiens’ goalkeeper.
Arthur Kaliyev missed an empty net on the power play moments later. Quinton Byfield also missed the target after a pass from Kopitar in a two-on-one attack.
The Canadian again threatened on the power play early in the third period, but Copley closed the door.
The Kings took control of the game with two goals within 63 seconds in the third period.
Vilardi first took advantage of a loose puck near the net to score at 7:27 of the final third. Kopitar then beat Allen at 8:30 following a fine throw-in from Byfield.
The Canadian did not give up and Gurianov reduced the lead to 3-2 at 9:39. He scored with a powerful slap shot.
Copley, however, had the last word late in the game.