Montreal heads home with a hard-fought 1-1-1 record after their week-long swing through California.
With the Canadiens on a two-game losing streak and the sky seemingly falling onto a team that has allowed too many goals recently, someone had to be the hero.
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Who better than former first-round draft choice Juraj Slafkovsky?
The 21-year-old Slovak finally snapped out of his post-Olympic slump — no goals in four games since returning from the Milano Cortina Games, although he had produced four assists.
Slafkovsky scored two goals and added an assist as the Canadiens came from behind — what else is new — to defeat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena. It was Montreal’s 20th comeback victory and, at least for now, stopped the bleeding.
The win gave the Canadiens a 1-1-1 record on their week-long swing through California. It also was Montreal’s first victory against Los Angeles in 10 games, dating back to Oct. 30, 2021. That marked the Kings’ longest streak of success against any NHL opponent.
News you need (Part I): Slafkovsky now has 23 goals and 52 points in 62 games. His career high was 51 points, established over 79 games during the 2024-25 season.
News you need (Part II): Slafkovsky joins Cole Caufield (23 goals in 2021-22) and Valeri Bure (22 in 1995-96) as the only Canadiens players in the past 35 years age 21 or younger to score that many during a season.
News you need (Part III): Montreal improved to 10-0-1 on the road this season when Slafkovsky scores.
News you need (Part IV): The Canadiens had one first-period shot, by Caufield, against Los Angeles. Somewhat incredibly, the last time the Canadiens produced only one shot in a period came on Nov. 25, 2023. Fittingly, that was in Los Angeles as well.
The news keeps getting better: The Canadiens now return home to host what’s left of the Toronto Maple Leafs, following the trade deadline, on Tuesday night. Those bums can’t beat anyone lately and are on a seven-game winless skid for the first time since March 2015. The win over the Kings also moved Montreal into third place in the Atlantic Division.
What do you think of him now?: The Canadiens wouldn’t have won this game without goaltender Jakub Dobes. His critics, of which there are many, seem to have forgotten he was 9-0-2 before allowing six goals at San Jose last Tuesday. Dobes stopped 15 shots in the first period, allowing only one goal. While he didn’t look great on the other two that beat him — a deflection off his pad and a bad rebound — he faced 39 shots. His save percentage was .923. While Samuel Montembeault continues to struggle, Dobes provides the Canadiens with the best chance to win.
Strange, but true (Part I): The Canadiens didn’t get their one, and only, power play until 14 minutes into the third period. It resulted in Slafkovsky’s second goal.
Next time, decline the penalty: The Kings had three manpower advantages, all in the first period, and failed to score — although they did generate five shots while Kaiden Guhle was off for high sticking.
Strange, but true (Part II): The Kings are now a dreadful 10-15-7 at home and concluded a six-game homestand against Montreal. But with the Dodgers the two-time defending World Series champions, along with the Rams, Chargers and Lakers around, it’s unlikely many people care.
When you have size, use it: It’s unlikely Jake Evans would have scored the Canadiens’ opening goal early in the second period, on only their third shot, had 6-foot-4, 221-pound Kirby Dach not pushed Taylor Ward into the crease. Ward actually was behind goalie Darcy Kuemper when Evans scored.
Where goals go to die: We’ve lost track how many times Josh Anderson has failed to score on a breakaway. He had one in the eighth minute of the second period, tried deking, went to his backhand and was denied. Few, if any, players score on a backhand.
Shift of the night: Slafkovsky’s first goal. He came out of the corner with the puck, went to the slot and beat Kuemper to the glove side.
Momentum … schmomentum: Less than two minutes later, Scott Laughton, playing his first game for the Kings following his trade from Toronto, tied the score.
Save of the night (Part I): The unorthodox Dobes, lying on his stomach, stopped an Anze Kopitar shot with his left pad in the period’s final minute.
Sieve of the night: Kuemper allowed two third-period goals in 49 seconds on the 20th and 22nd shots he faced. His save percentage was .826.
Pass of the night: Slafkovsky, cross-ice, to Nick Suzuki on the winning goal with less than five minutes remaining in regulation time.
Save of the night (Part II): Dobes robbed Adrian Kempe in the final minute. Kempe was at the side of the net, attempting to score on a rebound off the end boards.
The clubhouse leader: Defenceman Mike Matheson played 24:25, but struggled defensively, going minus-3.
He might never score again:Zachary Bolduc, who fanned on a third-period shot, has gone 23 games without scoring. He did get an assist on Evans’s goal. Only 20 games remain.
Quick stats: Suzuki had five shots, one more than Slafkovsky. Anderson had three shots and blocked four others. Matheson, Guhle and Arber Xhekaj all had three hits, although the latter played only 9:10. Guhle was on the ice for 24:26. The Canadiens won 51.1 per cent of their faceoffs, but were outhit 32-21.
They said it: “At this time of the season, we’re in a result business,” head coach Martin St. Louis said postgame in Los Angeles. “You have to take advantage of the emotional wave you get from a big win. Give credit to L.A. They played a really good game. It was hard to play that game tonight, especially (since it was a) back-to-back. The pace they brought, the physicality. I felt like Dobes was a big difference.”
“You want to be the guy that changes the momentum,” Slafkovsky said. “It’s important. It’s my fourth year. I expect to get better each and every year. That’s what I want to do. I want to keep growing my game and keep getting better. We’ll see where it takes me.”
“We put more effort into it at the end,” Dobes said. “Finally, 6-on-5 we played as a group. I’m really proud of the effort at the end. I feel like I bounced back better. I accomplished that today. I just tried to be myself. I just played my game. I don’t think I’m any different than the last game.”
“The first period was pretty slow for us,” Suzuki said. “There wasn’t a lot of flow. I think the hockey gods were trying to test us again. It was definitely a better effort from the guys. We kept them to the outside and were able to block some shots. That (protecting leads) has been a mental block for us.”
hzurkowsky@postmedia.com
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