Montreal Canadiens vs. Los Angeles Kings Pick & Prediction NOVEMBER 25th 2023
The Montreal Canadiens, off to a 2-1-0 start on their five-game road trip, continue the trek with a Saturday matinee against the Los Angeles Kings.
After dropping the first game of the trip 5-2 against the Boston Bruins, coach Martin St. Louis' group responded with a 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday and a 3-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks on Friday afternoon.
It's the first road trip of more than three games this season for the young Canadiens squad.
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Against the Ducks, Alex Newhook opened the night's scoring, and his game-winner with 3:20 remaining allowed Montreal to snap a four-game losing streak.
Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault recorded 30 saves in that contest, including a number of spectacular stops to preserve the win.
Defenseman Jayden Struble, 22, made his NHL debut against Anaheim, then notched an assist against San Jose for his first career point.
Montreal rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Sharks, finalizing the 3-2 victory on Jesse Ylonen's sixth-round winner in the shootout.
Canadiens sharpshooter Cole Caufield, 22, had a goal and an assist to eclipse 100 career points. Johnathan Kovacevic supplied Montreal's other goal, and Cayden Primeau stopped 31 of the 33 shouts he faced through regulation and overtime. He was beaten just once on six attempts in the shootout, though the Sharks missed the target twice.
"This league is hard," St. Louis said. "You've got to find ways, and I think that's what we did tonight."
After the Ducks fell to the Canadiens, they played host to the Kings on Black Friday in the first Freeway Face-Off of the season.
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Kevin Fiala scored twice as the Kings built a 4-0 lead in the first 23 minutes of game time, and Los Angeles cruised to a 5-2 victory.
Fiala credited linemates Trevor Moore and Phillip Danault.
"We have the same type of vision," Fiala said, according to NHL.com. "All three guys are really fast going to the net. We cycle the puck, we grind down and also, defensively, we do a good job, so it's been good."
The result was the Kings' ninth consecutive road victory to start the season. Los Angeles tied the second-longest streak of that nature in NHL history. The Buffalo Sabres won 10 straight on the road to open the 2006-07 season, and the New Jersey Devils won nine in a row away from home to start the 2009-10 campaign.
"We all just came out to play," said Los Angeles winger Quinton Byfield, who notched his fourth marker of the season. "We got out to an early lead, and being able to maintain it, that's what good teams do. ... It's a lot of fun right now when everything is clicking and working."
Anze Kopitar contributed a goal and an assist, and Arthur Kaliyev also scored for the Kings. Kopitar notched the 757th assist of his career, tying the franchise record held by Marcel Dionne. Moore, Drew Doughty and Adrian Kempe registered two assists apiece, and Cam Talbot made 29 saves for the victory.
Montreal Canadiens vs. Los Angeles Kings Recap MAR 2TH 2023
Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and an assist for the Los Angeles Kings in a 3-2 win against the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
Alex Iafallo and Anze Kopitar also scored and Pheonix Copley made 19 saves for the Kings, who have won three of four to move into a tie in points with the Vegas Golden Knights atop the Pacific Division standings.
Josh Anderson and Denis Gurianov scored and Jake Allen made 30 saves for Montreal, which had won three of four.
Vilardi gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead at 7:27 of the third period when a centering pass caromed to him at the side of the crease and he stuffed the puck in the net.
Kopitar scored with a wrist shot at 8:30 to stretch the lead to 3-1, but the Canadiens quickly cut the deficit back to a goal.
Gurianov scored with a slap shot from just above the left circle at 9:39, his first goal with Montreal since he was traded from the Dallas Stars on Sunday.
The Kings had to kill a penalty 25 seconds into the game when Blake Lizotte was whistled for high-sticking Jesse Ylonen.
The Canadiens went back on the power play after Vladislav Gavrikov was called for interference at 8:19, and Anderson scored on the man-advantage 55 seconds later for a 1-0 lead.
Montreal tried to center a pass that went off the stick of Kings forward Adrian Kempe and headed toward the crease. Los Angeles defenseman Mikey Anderson tried to sweep it aside, but it went off Josh Anderson and into the net for his 18th goal of the season, one shy of his total last season.
The Kings tied it at 7:42 of the second.
Los Angeles lost a faceoff in the Montreal zone, but the Kings quickly got the puck back and Vilardi passed to Iafallo, who scored his ninth goal of the season with a wrist shot from the slot.
Allen was coming off a 38-save effort in a 3-1 road win against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.