The Los Angeles Kings ended their three-game losing streak last night, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 4-1.
The Kings completely shook up the lines heading into this one, going with the following:
Quinton Byfield - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala - Phillip Danault - Trevor Moore
Warren Foegele - Alex Turcotte - Alex Laferriere
Andre Lee - Trevor Lewis - Tanner Jeannot
Mikey Anderson - Vladislav Gavrikov
Andreas Englund - Jordan Spence
Caleb Jones - Brandt Clarke
David Rittich
First Period
The Kings looked good out of the gate with some early chances, including a great opportunity for Warren Foegele at the side of the net. However, just seven minutes in, Justin Barron took the puck around the net in the offensive zone and beat Rittich with a wraparound, opening the scoring for Montreal. It’s one that Rittich just really needed to have, leaving the Kings down early once again.
Kevin Fiala did have a clear breakaway under a minute later with a chance to tie the game, but he was stopped on a great save by Sam Montembeault. Andreas Englund then took a penalty for a high hit, but Los Angeles did manage to kill it off.
Then with under two minutes to go in the period, Mikey Anderson put a shot on goal from the point shortly after a faceoff win, tying the game through 20 minutes.
It was a pretty decent first period from the Kings, and aside from maybe one stretch late in the frame, Los Angeles did a pretty good job not letting Montreal sustain pressure.
Second Period
The Kings managed to take the lead only two minutes into the second period, when Alex Turcotte put the puck back to the point, and Jordan Spence’s shot was tipped by Alex Laferriere to find its way in.
We saw some penalties exchanged after that for some 4-on-4 time but, and then with Los Angeles shorthanded a little later due to a Caleb Jones penalty, the Kings did an excellent job not even allowing Montreal to set up. With a couple shorthanded chances themselves off the rush, they really weren’t allowing the Canadiens to build any momentum. Alex Laferriere then had an excellent opportunity to build to the lead on a breakaway off a good pass from Andre Lee, but he couldn’t convert.
David Rittich did have to make a couple good saves from there, and Kevin Fiala ended up taking a questionable goalie interference penalty, but the Kings got out of the period with the lead.
Third Period
Early in the final frame, Kevin Fiala had a great chance to extend the lead on another partial break, but he was stopped (but did draw a penalty). Then a little later, after David Rittich made a big save to preserve the lead, Fiala once again got in alone and couldn’t convert, but this time he drew a penalty shot. However, he still couldn’t beat Montembeault on his opportunity.
The pace of the game did then pick up a bit in the final stretch, and the Canadiens were building a bit of pressure. But with three minutes to go, Andreas Englund just threw the puck on net from the point, and it got through traffic and past Montembeault, making it a 3-1 game.
Montreal did get a power play after that and pulled the goalie for a 6-on-4, but Adrian Kempe buried an empty netter to secure a 4-1 win for the Kings.
Takeaways
Start to finish, this was probably the Kings’ best game to this point. Coming off two tough outings against Ottawa and Toronto, it was a bit of a relief to see them play a more well-rounded game.
The Kings looked ready to go from the get-go for once – they were notably much more structured defensively, giving up far less odd-man rushes throughout the contest. There were fewer bad pinches, fewer turnovers, and it seemed like there was more buy-in when they didn’t have possession.
David Rittich also had a big bounce-back outing, stopping 26 shots in the win. While the loss in Toronto was in large part due to the team's terrible start, it also seemed like most chances the Leafs had ended up in the back of the Kings’ net. Last night though, Rittich was a key part of the solution, rather than the problem.
Two forwards who deserve some recognition are Alex Laferriere and Alex Turcotte. While the top forwards in Anze Kopitar, Kevin Fiala, and Adrian Kempe have been doing a lot of the heavy lifting offensively (combining for eight goals in five games), Laferriere and Turcotte have both been quietly contributing. With both wingers still just in their early 20s, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of impact they can have over the course of the year.
But it’s a big win for the Kings to cap off what was a pretty tough portion of the road trip. At the end of the day though, they took six out of a possible 10 points on an Eastern Conference swing to open the year. It certainly wasn’t always pretty, and you’d still really like to see Los Angeles string together some more games like this to be able to write-off the other performances as early-season rust. But it’s a step in the right direction.
The Kings will be back in action on Sunday, when they face the Anaheim Ducks.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Are the Kings destined to be a middle-of-the-pack team this season?
- Darcy Kuemper shines as Kings sneak out win over Sabres in season opener
- Kings come up short against Bruins, fall 2-1 in overtime
- Kings suffer OT loss to Senators in wild 15-goal game
- Kings fall behind early, give up six goals in loss to Maple Leafs
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