March 7, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Montreal Canadiens center Alex Newhoek (15) controls the puck during Game 1 against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Image Juraj Slafkovsky had two goals and an assist in the Montreal Canadiens’ 4-3 comeback victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday evening.
Nick Suzuki had a goal and two assists, Jake Evans also scored and Jakub Dobes made 36 saves for the Canadiens, who lost 6-5 at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.
Scott Laughton scored in his first game against the Kings, who were down 2-4-0 after the Olympic break. Los Angeles acquired Laughton from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline on Friday.
Anze Kopitar and Alex Laferriere also scored, Brandt Clarke had two assists and Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves for Los Angeles.
The Kings took a 3-2 lead at 6:44 of the third when Laferriere scored on a rebound after Dobes blocked a shot from the left point by Clarke.
Slafkovsky tied it 3-3 with a one-timer from the right circle during a power play at 14:38, and Suzuki put the Canadiens ahead with a one-timer from the right circle at 15:27.
The Kings outscored the Canadiens 16-1 in the first period, but only took a 1-0 lead.
That goal came after Artemi Panarin beat Mike Matheson with the puck over the Montreal blue line. Adrian Kempe came from behind and retrieved a loose puck above the right circle, feeding Kopitar to the far post for a deflection and a 1-0 lead at 14:12.
The Kings briefly thought they had scored again on a goal by Samuel Helenius when teammate Jeff Malott crashed into the Dobes at 15:59 of the first, but the goal was given up due to goalie interference and a hooking penalty was called on Montreal defenseman Arber Xhekaj.
The Kings had three power plays in the first period, which resulted in deflected shots on goal.
The Canadiens scored on their third shot at 3:09 of the second to tie the score at 1-1.
Kirby Dach passed the puck from below the goal line to Evans above the left circle. He made a few fake shots before weaving through traffic and firing the puck into the net.
The Canadiens went ahead 2-1 at 15:41 of the second when Slafkovsky took the puck off the wall and beat Kuemper with a wrist shot between the left circle and the hash mark.
Laughton scored after the Kings threw the puck into the Montreal zone. Jared Wright was first for Los Angeles, backhanding the puck to Laughton just over the goal line. He spun and banked the puck across the goal line from the Dobes’ far pad at 17:31 of the first to make it 2-2.
–Field level media
