The Los Angeles Kings are now 6-0-0 on the road following their 5-0 thrashing of the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
The Los Angeles Kings are now 6-0-0 on the road following their 5-0 thrashing of the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
The Kings took the lead late in the first period with two quick goals from the first line. Adrian Kempe grabbed his fourth of the season, knocking home Quinton Byfield's centering feed.
Then, less than 30 seconds later, Anze Kopitar tipped home Matt Roy's point shot to put the Kings up two.
They then added another two in the second period. Arthur Kaliyev fired home his third goal of the season on the power play 16 minutes in and Trevor Moore continued his strong start, beating Cal Petersen with just under a minute left in the period.
Blake Lizotte added the fifth goal early in the third period, one-timing a feed from Alex Laferriere through traffic and past Petersen.
It was another dominant game from the Kings away from home, outshooting Philadelphia 30-24 and holding 76% of the high-danger chances.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Quinton Byfield is Cooking:
After a strong end to last season, and a start to this season, that involved doing all the little things right but not a lot of production, Byfield is now producing too.
After every game, we seem to be saying, "Wow, that might be Byfield's best game in a Kings jersey," and I'm going to do it again here.
He was a play driver on Saturday and, at times, took over shifts. He was attacking with purpose and confidence and providing some end product too.
The best example of his night was the assist for Kaliyev's goal.
Byfield picked the puck up just inside the offensive zone, beat one defender and fed Phil Danault who missed the net, he then circled the net, picked the puck back up through traffic and set Kaliyev up for a goal.
It was as dominant a shift as you'll see at this level and a view into Byfield's ceiling.
Six games isn't a big enough sample size to say Byfield has broken out, but he's close.
Cam Talbot Impressive Again:
Has he been a Vezina trophy candidate? No, but Cam Talbot continues to put in solid performances for the Kings, earning his first shutout for the organization on Saturday.
It's clear he's now the number one after starting each of the last five games and he's running with that role.
He finished Saturday's game with 24 saves and 2.04 goals saved above expected.
The Kings still need Pheonix Copley to find his game, Talbot can't play every night, but the Kings have found a reliable number one, which should put to bed some of the concerns around their goaltending.
Kings Remain Undefeated on the Road:
After Thursday's victory, Keme said the Kings have a ton of confidence when playing away from home and that showed up again on Saturday.
Now 6-0-0 on the road, the Kings continue to go into other team's buildings and set the tempo.
A big reason they're able to achieve this is depth. Usually, the home team has an advantage because they can dictate the matchups all night.
However, with true four-line depth, that doesn't matter when playing the Kings.
Regardless of what matchup you get, the Kings are ready for it and can win, or at the very least not lose, most matchups.
Rob Blake said center depth was important, and right now, he's being proven correct.