Kings match their record for best start with win against Canadiens

MONTREAL --Jonathan Quick made 40 saves for his 46th NHL shutout in his 500th game, and Adrian Kempe and Tyler Toffoli scored 11 seconds apart in the first period to help the Los Angeles Kings defeat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 at Bell Centre on Thursday.
Quick got his second shutout and improved to 6-1-1 in eight starts in 2017-18. He made 35 saves in the season-opening 2-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 5.

"It's cool and all, but we get 501 in a couple of days, so you get ready for that," Quick said about the milestone. "And so you just keep working, keep grinding."
WATCH: [All Kings vs. Canadiens highlights]
Kempe, who assisted on rookie defenseman Kurtis MacDermid's first NHL goal at 3:58 of the third period, scored his sixth goal in five games at 18:59 of the first. Toffoli made it 2-0 with an unassisted goal at 19:10.
"I thought we had a good start and then [Quick] was there to back us up," Kings captain Anze Kopitar said. "And obviously those two goals in the end of the period, that's very deflating I can imagine for the other team, and gave us momentum going into the second period, so just kind of rode the wave from there."
Los Angeles (8-1-1) matched its best start with eight wins and 17 points through 10 games. The Kings started 8-1 with one tie in 1980-81 on their way to winning 10 of their first 12 games.

"We enjoy coming to the rink and working," Quick said. "We have a great group of guys so it makes it fun, keeps it light and guys enjoy pushing each other. So that's something that I've noticed so far in the beginning part of the season here."
Carey Price made 24 saves for Montreal (2-7-1), which has lost eight of nine (1-7-1). The Canadiens ended a seven-game losing streak (0-6-1), their longest since 1939-40, with a 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
"I thought we had a pretty solid first period and we just had a couple of mental lapses, I feel, and we shot ourselves in the foot," Price said.
With five points in 10 games, Montreal is off to its worst start in 76 years. The Canadiens went 1-8 with one tie to begin the 1941-42 season.

Kempe, who scored his first NHL hat trick and had four points in a 5-1 win against Montreal on Oct. 18, scored for the third straight game to give the Kings a 1-0 lead.
Canadiens PA announcer Michel Lacroix had just begun announcing Kempe's goal when Toffoli made it 2-0 with a slap shot past Price from the right face-off circle.
Kopitar made it 3-0 at 14:35 of the second period.

Goal of the game

Kempe was in the left face-off circle to deflect Derek Forbort's shot from the left point, tipping the puck down and past Price.

Save of the game

Quick made three straight saves in a six-second span on Jonathan Drouin, Paul Byron and Artturi Lehkonen beginning at 1:53 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Kopitar took advantage of a turnover during 4-on-4 play to carry the puck down the left side and score his seventh goal with a wrist shot past Price into the top right corner.

They said it

"Well, I think the guys all knew it was his 500th game and I just told the guys after the game that might have been one of the best goaltending performances I've ever seen. It was tremendous. And true to Johnny, Johnny doesn't want any credit for anything, he just feels like he's doing his job. Honestly, it might be as good as I've ever seen him play."-- Kings coach John Stevens on goalie Jonathan Quick's 40-save shutout
"I think we've got to make life harder on their defensemen and their goalies to get some dirty goals, and hopefully that can help us win games." -- Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty

Need to know

Quick is 266-168-54, including 6-2-0 with two shutouts against Montreal since making his NHL debut with Los Angeles in 2007-08. ... Kings forward Michael Amadio had one shot in 9:04 in his first NHL game after he was recalled from Ontario of the American Hockey League on Tuesday. ... Canadiens right wing Nikita Scherbak left in the second period with a lower-body injury. ... Montreal right wing Andrew Shaw played his 400th NHL game.

What's next

Kings:At the Boston Bruins on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NESN, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Canadiens: Host the New York Rangers on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, CITY, TVA Sports, NHLN, MSG, NHL.TV)