Canadians’ Western woes return with 5-2 loss in Los Angeles

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The Canadiens scored the first goal, but Los Angeles bounced back with three power play goals and dominated the final two periods as they posted a 5-2 victory Saturday at Staples Center.

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The Canadiens had hoped to build on their 4-0 victory Thursday at San Jose, but were outscored by a wide margin after exiting the first period with a 1-0 lead. The loss left the Canadiens with a 2-7-0 record.

The Kings put this game out of their league when they opened a 4-1 lead with two goals early in the third period.

Rasmus Kupari scored the Kings’ second power goal at 1:53 with a shot that went in and out of the net so fast the Canadiens thought it had hit a post. Alex Lafalo added a goal at 5:37 when he took advantage of a rebound from a strong shot from Matt Roy. The opening shot hit Jake Allen in the chest and he lost sight of the rebound, allowing Lafalo to hit it.

Lafalo scored his second goal in the power play later in the period. The Kings’ power play ended the game with three goals in five chances. The Canadiens went 0 for 3 with the extra man and only managed two shots on goal.

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Christian Dvorak’s cunning and Josh Anderson’s speed combined to give the Canadiens the only goal in the first period. Dvorak received a clear pass from Alexander Romanov and came up the left wing. Anderson jumped from the right side and received a perfect saucer pass from Dvorak. Phil Danault, who was playing in his first game against his former team since signing with the Kings in the offseason, tried to catch up and lunged in an attempt to stop Anderson. But the Canadiens winger got ahead of him and beat Calvin Petersen on the short side.

Nick Suzuki, seeking his first goal of the season, had a chance earlier in the first period when he skidded across the ice and took a clean shot on Petersen, who made the glove save.

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The Kings picked up the momentum after Viktor Arvidsson tied the score early in the second period when they were outscoring Montreal 11-3 in the period.

Arvidsson The goal was another example of the Canadiens flipping the puck in the neutral zone and Arvidsson made them pay with a perfect high shot to the far corner on Allen’s blocking side.

Arthur Kaliyev put the Kings ahead with a power play goal at 12:19. The 20-year-old scored his first NHL goal when he fired a shot over Allen’s left shoulder. The Canadiens’ Kaliyev and Cole Caufield were teammates earlier this year when they helped the United States win the gold medal at the World Junior Championships.

The game was out of reach when defender Ben Chiarot scored the final goal of the game with 2:20 left.

The Canadiens conclude their road trip through the western US with another matinee on Sunday when they play the Anaheim Ducks. (4 pm, TSN2, RDS, TSN-690 Radio, 98.5 FM) .

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