3 takeaways from the Los Angeles Kings win over the Montreal Canadiens
The Los Angeles Kings finally got back in the win column on Thursday night with a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens. This was the first win the Kings have had since the season opener against the Buffalo Sabres.
However, it has been a tough stretch to open the season as they have begun the year on a five-game road trip. This was a big test for them as they were playing the second of a back-to-back and the games against the Senators and Maple Leafs earlier this week was pretty ugly hockey.
The Kings would make some changes and those changes seemed to work as they looked much better in this game. These are three takeaways from the game on Thursday night.
LA Kings make some interesting line choices for this game
The Los Angeles Kings want to turn around their fortunes after a few lackluster performances. Jim Hiller decided one to do that was to make some notable changes across the lines both on offense and defense for this game.
Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes 👀 -
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) October 17, 2024
Byfield - Kopitar - Kempe
Fiala - Danault - Moore
Foegele - Turcotte - Laferriere
Lee - Lewis - Jeannot
Anderson - Gavrikov
Englund - Spence
Jones - Clarke
Rittich
Copley
The one that stands out the most is the move of Quentin Byfield from center on the third line to left wing with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. This was where he played last season but it seems a little short-sighted because Byfield is probably best suited at center and looked great in the preseason.
By moving Byfield to the top line, he bumps Alex Laferriere down to the third line and he was paired with Alex Turcotte, who has arguably been one of the best players through the early part of the season for the Kings, and Warren Foegele.
On defense, the Kings had Vladislav Gavrikov with Mikey Anderson while moving Brandt Clarke down with Caleb Jones. Meanwhile, Jordan Spence was back in the lineup after the night off against the Maple Leafs and paired with Andreas Englund.
Across the board, the Kings looked better and it will be interesting to see if this is a permanent move or if Hiller will move some players back, like Byfield.
Kings get offensive spark from defense
The Los Angeles Kings would get a 4-1 victory over the Canadiens but would get an offensive spark from their defense with Mikey Anderson and Andreas Englund netting two of the goals. These were two of the more unlikely sources of goals as Anderson and Englund combined for only three goals all of last season.
In total, the Kings had four defensemen secure at least a point with Jordan Spence and Vladislav Gavrikov also adding at least one assist each in this game.
There is no question that this is not a long-term solution to success for the Kings. They are going to need more from their forwards, like Kempe (who had an open net goal at the end of the game), Kopitar, Fiala, and Byfield, but it was a pleasant surprise to see some production from unlikely sources.
David Rittich bounces back against the Canadiens
After two strong performances by Darcy Kuemper to start the year, the goaltender position has been pretty shaky over the past three games. On Monday against Ottawa, Kuemper allowed eight goals and then missed the past two games due to an injury.
In those two games David Rittich would start in net and last night against Toronto, he wouldn't even be able to finish the game after giving up four goals before being pulled for Pheonix Copley midway through the second period.
However, in this game against the Canadiens, Rittich looked much better in the net with 26 saves on 27 shots. He certainly had some shaky moments early in the game as he did give up a weak wrap-around goal because he wasn't positioned well to push off the post to get to the other side.
That goal didn't set him back though and it was great to see him rebound and settle down to finish the game strong. The Kings hopefully will have Kuemper back for Sunday night against the Anaheim Ducks but if Rittich has to make another start, the coaching staff should feel a little more confident.
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