Byfield scores twice, Kings beat Canadiens for 11th straight road win to start season
By Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press on December 7, 2023.
MONTREAL – Quinton Byfield scored twice, Cam Talbot earned a shut out and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 Thursday at Bell Centre to set an NHL record for longest road winning streak to start a season. The Kings (16-4-3) improved to 11-0-0 away from home. The record for most consecutive road wins at any point of a season is 12. Byfield, who also had an assist, continued his breakout season after a slow start to his career. The 2020 second-overall pick is up to eight goals and 13 helpers through 23 games. Drew Doughty, with a goal and an assist, and Trevor Moore also scored for Los Angeles. Captain Anze Kopitar had three assists and Cam Talbot made 24 saves. Montreal (11-12-3) was held off the scoresheet by the Kings for a second time this season. The Canadiens lost 4-0 in Los Angeles on Nov. 25. Samuel Montembeault stopped 38 shots in his second consecutive start. It was the first time a Canadiens goalie started two consecutive games since Jake Allen on Oct. 21 and 23. The Kings went 1-for-1 on the power play. The Canadiens were 0-for-3. Doughty opened the scoring at 8:13 of the first period when he grabbed the puck off a broken play in the offensive zone and slid the puck under Montembeault for the defenceman’s seventh of the season. The Canadiens outshot the Kings 13-11 in the opening frame and had a number of scoring chances. On the same power play, Sean Monahan hit the post with a shot and Juraj Slafkovsky hit the side of the cage from a wide angle on an open net, but Montreal couldn’t get one behind Talbot. Byfield then buried his first of the night at 17:46 by cutting hard to the net, fending off Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle and tucking the puck past Montembeault’s left pad for a pretty goal. In the second, the Canadiens’ power-play struggles continued as they failed to capitalize on a 4-on-3 opportunity early in the period. Byfield converted on L.A.’s first chance on the man advantage at 18:15 with a shot into an open cage from the side of the net after Kopitar tipped a pass from the point onto his tape. Moore added to Montreal’s misery 7:58 into the third period with a breakaway goal after Canadiens defenceman Justin Barron tripped on a linesman to put the game well out of reach. The Kings outshot the Canadiens 31-11 in the final two periods. OULLETTE HONOURED The Canadiens held a pre-game ceremony for recent Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Caroline Ouellette. The Montreal-born Ouellette is one of three women’s hockey players to capture four Olympic gold medals (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014). She also won six world championships for Canada. “The dream of making the Hall of Fame was not possible for most of my career,” Ouellette, referencing the fact a female player hadn’t entered the Hall before 2010, told the Bell Centre crowd. “But a dream I had at the beginning of my career was to play for the Montreal Canadiens, it’s the first dream I had.” Ouellete also encouraged the crowd to come out and support the newly-formed Professional Women’s Hockey League, which features teams in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. The puck drops for the inaugural season Jan. 1. UP NEXT Kings: Play their third of a four-game road trip on Saturday at the New York Islanders. Canadiens: Visit the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2023. 25-24
