Once again, the Montreal Canadiens were shut out by the Los Angeles Kings, this time at the Bell Centre.
GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 0 vs Los Angeles Kings 4 | FINAL
Canadiens Lineup
Forwards
22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
91 Sean Monahan - 71 Jake Evans - 17 Josh Anderson
70 Tanner Pearson - 28 Christian Dvorak - 11 Brendan Gallagher
55 Michael Pezzetta - 13 Stephens - 56 Jesse Ylonen
Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - 27 Gustav Lindstrom
21 Kaiden Guhle - 52 Justin Barron
47 Jayden Struble - 26 Johnathan Kovacevic
Goaltenders
Starter: 35 Sam Montembeault
Alternate: 34 Jake Allen
Out of the lineup
Scratches: Mattias Norlinder, Joel Armia, Cayden Primeau
Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), David Savard (hand), Rafael Harvey-Pinard (lower body), Jordan Harris (lower body), Alex Newhook (lower body)
Game Report
The Canadiens played a part in helping the Kings set an NHL record. Los Angeles is the first team in history to win their first 11 games on the road.
Combined with an identical 4-0 win on November 25th at Crypto .com Arena, the Kings shut out the Canadiens for six consecutive periods in their two-game series this season.
Quentin Byfield scored twice and add an assist while Anze Kopitar recorded three assists. Cam Talbot earned a 24-save shutout.
Despite falling behind 2-0 in the opening frame, Marty St. Louis was happy with his team's start. The head coach felt that the Habs were executing but not finishing their chances. Montreal recorded two high-danger scoring chances in the first period at 5-on-5.
In the last 40 minutes of the game, the Canadiens were outshot 31-11 as the Kings used their vaunted 1-3-1 system to stifle the home team.
Mike Matheson saw improvement in the way his team played since they last saw the Kings in Los Angeles. "I think you have to ignore the score and realize that our game tonight was way better than it was in L.A. on all fronts; so big progress for sure," said Matheson.
Habs fans did not agree. They booed the team off the ice as the final siren sounded at the Bell Centre.
Game Statistics
Canadiens (11-12-3)
Shots: 24
Face-off %: 60.3
Power play: 0/3
Penalty minutes: 9
Hits: 12
Blocks: 9
Kings (16-4-3)
Shots: 42
Face-off %: 39.7
Power play: 1/1
Penalty minutes: 13
Hits: 16
Blocks: 18
Scoring Summary
Canadiens Scorers
1st period: --
2nd period: --
3rd period: --
OT: --
SO: --
Kings Scorers
1st period: Doughty (7), Byfield (7)
2nd period: Byfield (7)-PPG
3rd period: Moore (13)
OT: --
SO: --
Goaltenders
MTL: Montembeault (L) 6-4-1
LAK: Talbot (W) 12-4-1
Canadiens Players of the Game
None
Video Highlights
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcO0Uf6O3Q0[/embed]
Post-game Quotes
Marty St. Louis
"I felt like they were winning after the first (period), (but) I didn't feel they were beating us."
Up Next
The Canadiens will head to Buffalo for a brief one-game road trip on Saturday night as they take on the Sabres at KeyBank Center. They will return to Montreal to host the Nashville Predators on Sunday night.
Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.
