Despite changes made by the Montreal coaching staff since the game in Los Angeles, the Canadiens were unable to score on Thursday.
The Los Angeles Kings rolled into the Bell Centre on Thursday night and blanked the Montreal Canadiens 4-0. With their 11th win on the road, the Kings set a new record for the longest road winning streak to start the season.
The Canadiens losing streak against the Kings extended to six matches with the last victory registered on November 10th, 2019. That night, Shea Weber and Nate Thompson lit the lamp at the Bell Centre.
The first matchup between these two teams this season also finished 4-0 in Los Angeles' favor. On November 25th, Montreal took one shot in the first period and finished the game with 18 shots.
On Thursday, the Canadiens outshot their opponents through 20 minutes but trailed 2-0 at the intermission.
"I think we played better but it's a little bit the same," Martin St. Louis answered when asked to compare both matches. "I didn't hate the first two periods we played in Los Angeles. I really liked our first period tonight but unfortunately we're losing 2-0, but we deserved better than that in the first period."
The coaching staff made adjustments on how to tackle the Kings 1-3-1 system, but Montreal fell short in trying to overcome it.
"I think we executed a whole lot better and did a much better job of staying connected. We were pretty disconnected when we were playing there," evaluated Mike Matheson. "I think you have to ignore the score and realize that our game tonight was way better than what it was in L.A on all fronts."
Quinton Byfield's second goal of the evening to make it 3-0 at the end of the second period virtually eliminated any hope of Montreal coming back. The Kings dominated the third period and outshot the Canadiens 16-4.
"We made some improvements. We had some better looks, some better chances but they're a tough team to play against. They're really structured, really disciplined within their structure and getting that first goal would help. We just haven't been able to do that," Brendan Gallagher spoke about their opponents.
The Canadiens will try to get back to winning ways on Saturday in Buffalo.
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