LAK@MTL: Blanked at the Bell Centre

MONTREAL - The Canadiens simply couldn't find a way to solve Jack Campbell on Thursday night.

None of their season-high 40 shots managed to beat the 26-year-old goaltender, who earned his first career shutout in a 3-0 win at the Bell Centre.
As a result, Claude Julien's squad dropped their first game of the season in regulation time.
"There's always ways to score goals, and we didn't do a good enough job making it tough on him, getting inside on their defensemen and battling," explained assistant captain Brendan Gallagher, on the Canadiens' inability to light the lamp in their home opener. "Too many times it was one and done. We have a team that should be pretty good at that, and we just didn't play to our strengths."

Adrian Kempe's goal just under four minutes into the first period swung the momentum in the Kings' favor shortly after the pre-game ceremonies came to a close.
And, the Canadiens couldn't recover after that, especially after Michael Amadio put the Kings up by a pair seven-and-a-half minutes later.
"In this League, you've got to be able to start on time. Against a team like that, that's won Stanley Cups and they've got some guys who've been in this League for a long time, they know how to hold on to leads and they really hem you in," mentioned Max Domi. "At the end of the day, we've got to start better and we've got to be ready to go. Whatever that takes, we just came up a little bit short."
Power outage on the power play
The Canadiens' power play came up empty for the second straight game on Thursday night, as Julien's contingent failed to capitalize on four opportunities with the man advantage.
"I think we were a perimeter team on the power play. I think we had puck possession, but we didn't have those Grade A scoring chances that we need to," said Andrew Shaw, referencing the Habs' power play woes. "We didn't get pucks through, and when we did, we didn't have anyone at the net."

The Canadiens have just one goal in 11 power play chances so far this season.
Well done, Jesperi!
Jesperi Kotkaniemi has every reason to be proud of his performance in his first regular season game on home turf.
The 18-year-old centerman led the Canadiens with five shots on goal while logging 14:23 of ice time. He also won 55 percent of his draws in the faceoff circle.
"It was a great evening. It was great to finally be here playing a real game," said Kotkaniemi, who continued to impress with his ability to make things happen shift after shift. "But, the result wasn't what we wanted."

Nevertheless, Kotkaniemi will always remember being introduced to the Bell Centre faithful ahead of his home debut. The applause was out of this world.
"I just tried to focus, so I didn't fall on the ice," cracked Kotkaniemi, who has made quite an impression since being selected third overall at the NHL Draft in June. "It was great to see all the fans there. It was awesome."
One can just imagine what the fan reaction will be when the Finnish phenom registers his first career NHL goal...
"I just thought if I'm shooting more, maybe the puck is going to go in the net," concluded Kotkaniemi with a smile. "Maybe next game."
That, of course, will be on Saturday night when the Canadiens play host to the Pittsburgh Penguins.