The Kings added Montreal to their list of conquests this fall.
Quinton Byfield scored two goals and an assist, Cam Talbot stopped 24 shots and the Los Angeles club defeated the Canadian 4-0 on Thursday evening at the Bell Centre.
The Kings broke an NHL record by winning their first 11 road games at the start of the campaign. The Buffalo Sabers set the old mark of 10 during the 2006-07 season.
The Habs had, however, spent the last two days preparing for the Kings and their hermetic 1-3-1 neutral zone system.
Martin St-Louis’ men managed to settle into opposing territory on numerous occasions and did not have a bad match. However, Talbot played his role as a backup perfectly the few times his teammates made mistakes in front of him.
Samuel Montembeault made 38 saves in front of the Canadian net (11-12-2). It was the first time in 21 games that a Habs goalie got a second consecutive start.
Drew Doughty had a goal and an assist, while Trevor Moore also scored for the Kings (16-4-3), who also blanked the Canadian 4-0 in Los Angeles on November 25. Anze Kopitar had three assists and Kevin Fiala, two.
Forward Michael Pezzetta was inserted into the Canadian’s lineup in place of Joel Armia. The latter had benefited from a day of treatment on Wednesday, but the team did not specify whether Armia’s withdrawal was linked to an injury.
The Canadian will play twice this weekend. He will first visit the Buffalo Sabers on Saturday, before hosting the Nashville Predators on Sunday.
An impenetrable kingdom
The Kings took control of the game by scoring twice in the first period.
Doughty made a nice move up the left wing and showed patience before surprising Montembeault at 8:13.
Byfield also scored with a great individual effort at 17:46. The colossus winger made fun of defender Kaiden Guhle’s coverage and then saw Montembeault take the bait on his feint. All he had to do was push the puck into an empty net.
At the other end of the ice, the Canadian didn’t have a bad period, but he was unable to take advantage of his chances.
Sean Monahan hit the post on a power play, then Juraj Slafkovsky missed an open net following a cross-ice pass from Nick Suzuki.
Suzuki also hit the post early in the second period, after a fine individual effort from Slafkovsky.
The Canadian spent a lot of time in the Kings zone during the middle period, but Talbot didn’t really have to stand out.
Byfield dealt a big blow to the Canadian by scoring his second goal of the game with 1:45 left in the second period, during a power play. Fiala’s stick shattered when he attempted a shot. The puck slid towards the net and Kopitar redirected it to Byfield, who was able to shoot into a gaping cage.
The Kings managed to stifle the Canadian in the third period, limiting him to four shots on goal.
Moore scored on a breakaway at 7:58.