*Photo from the Manistee News Advocate*
There's a throne full of Kings coming for your hopes of winning a hockey game. Anze Kopitar scored, Alex Edler added a goal, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Montreal Canadiens with a 4-2 victory on Saturday night in Montreal.
Now with points in 7 of their last 10 games, the Kings sit at 15-11-4 on the season, putting them in second place in the Pacific Division, trailing only the Vegas Golden Knights. They came out strong following a 5-0 shutout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
Los Angeles head coach Todd McClellan said that it was a "Good response by the group as a whole. Whether you were an eight, nine-minute man tonight or a 20-minute man, you were responsible for your game. I think we came to the rink and we trusted each other tonight. We didn't do that in Toronto, and it showed on the ice."
Getting the start in goal for the Kings was Pheonix Copley, recalled from the AHL after Cal Petersen was put on waivers. Copley had a strong game, saving 20 of the 22 shots he was faced with, good for a .909 save percentage to move to 2-0-0 since being called up.
The first period saw the Kings strike first. It was Kopitar who started the scoring, giving the Kings a 1-0 lead with his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Kevin Fiala 9:34 into the game. Just 19 seconds later, Viktor Arvidsson added his own 8th goal of the season, doubling the Kings lead to 2-0 after one period.
After a scoreless second period, Edler opened the scoring in the 3rd period to make it 3-0 Kings with an assist from Blake Lizotte. Mike Hoffman and Cole Caufield then scored for the Canadiens to end the shutout bid, making it a 3-2 game. With the net empty, Adrian Kempe sealed the 4-2 win with his 9th goal of the season.
Copley said after the game that "There were a lot of blocks where I wasn't getting a lot of work, so it was kind of more one of the games where you have to be mentally sharp. The guys were doing a really good job with puck possession and playing in the other end. The guys battled hard, and it was a good win for us."
Starting opposite Copley was Jake Allen for the Canadiens. Allen took the loss to move to 8-10-0 in 18 starts this season. He made 31 saves on the 34 shots the Kings got on goal, recording a .912 save percentage in the loss.
Caufield said of the loss that "They sit back and wait for you to dump the puck, and they've got a guy waiting for it. So it's hard to get pucks back with that. It's not really fun hockey, in my opinion, but you've got to find ways to beat it. And there's some times where we did, but it's obviously a tough thing to crack."
The Kings resume play on Sunday night, finishing up a back to back with Jonathan Quick starting against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Allen is the likely starter for the Canadiens when they face the Calgary Flames at home on Monday night.
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