MONTREAL 鈥� Quinton Byfield says he鈥檚 playing with confidence, and it鈥檚 showing.
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 21-year-old 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.
"The confidence is there right now," Byfield explained as to why he鈥檚 found a rhythm this season.
Kings head coach Todd McLellan gave credit where it was due.
"I keep giving credit to his linemates and stuff that have pulled him along, but a lot of it came from him too, and he's done an outstanding job,鈥� said McLellan. 鈥淗e looked like a dominant player. Not just tonight, but in a lot of games so far this year.鈥�
Byfield鈥檚 performance helped the Kings (16-4-3) improve to 11-0-0 away from home.聽
The record for most consecutive road wins at any point of a season is 12.
鈥淣ormally we're downplaying achievements, talking about getting to the next game, but I think that we have to acknowledge the group has played really well,鈥� said McLellan. 鈥淚 thought we played a little bit of playoff-type hockey.聽
"Down the stretch we blocked shots, we managed the clock, we played pucks into areas when we had to, made pretty smart decisions."
Drew Doughty, with a goal and an assist, and Trevor Moore also scored for Los Angeles. Captain Anze Kopitar had three assists and Talbot made 24 saves.
Montreal (11-12-3) was held off the scoresheet by the Kings for a second time this season. The Canadiens also lost 4-0 in Los Angeles on Nov. 25, but felt they had a better showing on Thursday.
鈥淚 thought we played a lot better than we did in L.A.,鈥� said Montreal captain Nick Suzuki. 鈥�(We) hit I don鈥檛 know how many posts, had a lot of scoring chances, once you go down to a team that plays like that, it鈥檚 hard to get through their trap. They made it difficult on us to come back.鈥�
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 but the Canadiens outshot the Kings 13-11 in the opening frame and had a number of scoring chances that Talbot turned away.
"We needed him in the first period," said McLellan. "It's hard when you're on the road in a building like this (with) a pretty good hockey club."
Byfield 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鈥檚 left pad for a pretty goal.
"Big man, deceiving speed, good hands, turn the corner," said McLellan. "Pretty impressive goal."
In the second, the Canadiens鈥� power-play struggles continued as they failed to capitalize on a 4-on-3 opportunity early in the period.
Byfield converted on L.A.鈥檚 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.
"He's been playing great all year,鈥� Kopitar said of his linemate. 鈥淚'm obviously very happy to see him getting rewarded and just getting his confidence up and the way he's playing.鈥�
The Kings then started suffocating the Canadiens with a defensive trap, outshot the Canadiens 16-4 in the third period and put the game well out of reach with a breakaway goal from Moore.
鈥淯nfortunately when you鈥檙e chasing the game in the third period, you鈥檙e probably not doing the same thing you would do in a close game,鈥� said Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis. 鈥淵ou got to try to manufacture something at that point so you鈥檙e taking a little more risk, but it鈥檚 not an easy defensive scheme to take risk against.鈥�
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.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
