LOS ANGELES — The Kings were holding court once more, returning to their winning ways and breaking open the Montreal Canadiens’ defense in a 6-3 win that they started out dominating and finished effectively on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
They have won 11 of their past 12 home games and now have consecutive victories after salvaging at least one win from their five-game road trip in the finale at Carolina. Montreal, which had been the cream of the NHL crop for five weeks, has now lost six of its past seven games.
Kevin Fiala had two goals for a second straight game and his linemate Quinton Byfield had three assists. Vladislav Gavrikov and Warren Foegele had a goal and an assist apiece, while Brandt Clarke and Trevor Moore (empty net) each scored a goal. Darcy Kuemper came up with 18 saves in the opener of a six-game homestand that bookends the upcoming 4 Nations Face-off international tournament.
Defensemen Mike Matheson, Alexandre Carrier and Logan Mallioux scored for Montreal. Jakub Dobeš stopped 32 of 37 shots.
There were twice as many goals (six) scored in the third period as the other two combined.
Moore scored into the empty net to close out an effort that began with Clarke’s goal just 15 seconds into the period.
Montreal got a marker from Mailloux, who strided confidently into a shot from high in the faceoff circle.
Previously, there was a second soft shot from distance that beat Kuemper, with this one coming after Alex Newhook blew a tire. The puck came to Carrier in the upper right corner of the Kings’ zone, where he let fly with a fluttering shot that snuck through both Drew Doughty and Kuemper to the far side.
The Kings had earned their first two-goal lead of the night when Alex Turcotte and Anže Kopitar joined forces to win a board battle, with Kopitar moving the puck high to Clarke. Clarke’s point shot zipped past Dobeš, whose vision was partially obstructed by Adrian Kempe.
The second period saw the two sides exchange goals to maintain the Kings’ edge from the first intermission at the second, also thanks to Kuemper’s quieting of a riotous rush from Montreal’s top line off a Joel Edmundson giveaway.
Just 1:32 after Montreal scored, the Kings recaptured the lead on a penalty shot by Foegele, whose shot between Dobeš’ pad and blocker grazed his arm en route to the nylon. It was Foegele’s 13th goal of the season and the first conversion of a penalty shot since Austin Wagner netted one against Colorado nearly five years ago.
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At the 3:51 mark, the Habs had gotten on the board with a magic bullet. Matheson flinged a wobbling puck toward the net that caromed off Doughty’s posterior and then Kuemper’s head before entering the net.
The Kings, who had three days off prior to the game, came out skating circles around the Habs, who had won in San Jose a night earlier to snap a five-game losing streak. The hosts recorded the first dozen shots of the game and its first goal just 99 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Sandwiched between two tortuous near-misses for Moore was Gavrikov’s goal. Byfield recovered a shot and slid the puck high for the Russian defender, whose blast from above the left circle through a Laferriere screen became his third goal of 2024-25. Byfield’s assists, on this goal and both of Fiala’s, brought his totals to five in two games and eight points across five career games versus Montreal.
More to come on this story.