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It was the perfect road win.
The Montreal Canadiens snapped a seven game losing streak on Tuesday night and looked to build momentum against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
In the first period they did just that where they out-shot the Kings 16-8 in the first 19 minutes.
However, the Kings, or Jonathan Quick rather, weathered the storm and waited for their opportunity to strike. That opportunity came in the form of an Adrian Kempe tip off a Derek Forbort shot that went past Carey Price to steal a 1-0 lead late in the first period.
Eleven seconds later, Tyler Toffoli picked off the Habs breakout pass and blasted the puck past Price to give the Kings a 2-0 lead and take the Montreal crowd completely out of the game.
“We scored four goals and it’s hard to say your goalie helps provide offense, but I thought he did tonight by keeping us scoreless in the early part of the game,… said head coach John Stevens on Quick’s impact right from the get-go. “Now you get an opportunity to get a couple of goals and make them chase from behind.…
Quick, playing in his 500th game, stopped 40 shots to get his 46th career shutout and more importantly, increased the Kings record to 8-1-1 on the year. Despite the fact that the Canadiens were playing well, his performance deflated their moral victory.
“We got the chances tonight, we weren’t able to score,… said Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty. “Quickie played great but we got to make life harder on the goalie. This isn’t the first time that this happened and we feel we deserved better.…
In the second period, Kings’ captain Anze Kopitar removed any notion of the Canadiens coming back into the game. In the middle of the period, the Kings were killing Montreal’s fourth power play when Jeff Petry took a holding call to get some four-on-four action. That is when Kopitar shot a laser beam over Price’s shoulder to make the score 3-0.
“I think that [Kopitar’s goal] was the turning point,… said Pacioretty. “3-0 feels like a much bigger mountain than two but at the same time coming out of the third we felt this group could come back and there were a lot of chances.…
Despite those chances, the final nail in the coffin came from an unlikely source as Kurtis MacDermid had his point shot redirected off a Montreal defender and into the net to score his first NHL goal.
“It’s a lot of work and a lot of time, but it’s all worth it,… said an excited MacDermid. “I can’t describe it, it’s just a dream come true. [Price is] one of the best goalies in the league and in the Bell Centre as well, just soak it all in.
Lost in the excitement surrounding Quick and MacDermid was Kempe’s continued strong play. The 21-year-old scored a goal and assist against Montreal, bringing his hot streak to six goals and nine points in five games. His continue strong play is making it easier on Stevens and the Kings to push the pace as they wait for Jeff Carter to come back from his injury.
Prior to the game the Kings recalled Mike Amadio from their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. Last season Amadio had 16 goals and 41 points in 68 games for Reign, while this year he has two points in five games with the AHL team.
The Kings returned Justin Auger to the Reign to make room for Amadio. He went scoreless in the two games he appeared in with the Kings.
L.A. now travel to Boston to face the Bruins and continue their hot start to the season. After losing a tough overtime game to the Buffalo Sabres and a four day break in the action, the Bruins defeated the San Jose Sharks in a close 2-1 decision on Thursday night.