Price ties Plante with 314th win for Canadiens in victory against Kings

LOS ANGELES -- Carey Price tied Jacques Plante for most wins by a goalie in Montreal Canadiens history in a 3-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Tuesday.

"I'm very proud of the accomplishment so far, but I don't feel like I'm anywhere near the end of it, so I'd like to obviously continue to have success in this league and continue to push the envelope," said Price, who made 26 saves.
Price is 314-220-67 in 12 seasons with Montreal. Plante, a Hockey Hall of Famer, was 314-133 with 107 ties for the Canadiens.
"It's the Montreal Canadiens," said Brendan Gallagher, who scored for the fourth consecutive game. "I don't think you get records (like that) without them being pretty special, and it's a very special record. I feel fortunate to get to play with him here for the last seven years. He's the best there is, so pretty lucky to be able to watch him every game."
WATCH: [All Canadiens vs. Kings highlights]
Shea Weber had a goal and an assist for Montreal (36-24-7), which is tied in points with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first wild card from the Eastern Conference into the Stanley Cup Playoffs and leads the Columbus Blue Jackets by two points for the second wild card.
Matt Luff scored, and Jonathan Quick made 21 saves for the Kings (24-34-8), who are 1-7-4 in their past 12 games.
The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead at 3:11 of the first period when Gallagher deflected Victor Mete's shot from the blue line after Phillip Danault won a face-off in the Kings zone. Gallagher, who has scored seven goals in the past seven games, reached the 30-goal mark for the second consecutive season; he had an NHL career-high 31 in 2017-18.

Jordan Weal scored with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle to make it 2-0 at 10:07 of the second period after Los Angeles defenseman Dion Phaneuf turned over the puck. It was Weal's Montreal debut after being acquired in a trade from the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 25.
"When you go out there trying to do too much and prove too much … for me, that's when I'm running around and not doing the right things and staying patient and being in the right positions," said Weal, who has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 48 games for the Canadiens, Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers this season.

Price made the save against Jeff Carter on a breakaway at 7:22 of the second and smothered the rebound after making a pad save on Alex Iafallo's shot at 18:41 of the second.
"I haven't got to see it firsthand until I've been here, and it's impressive," Weal said of Price. "Even in practices, you see a great save two, three, four times a practice, and you're just like, 'Huh, I get it. I get why this guy is one of the best.' It's a treat to watch and a treat to have him back there backstopping us."
Weber put the Canadiens up 3-0 41 seconds into the third period, scoring on a one-timer off a pass from Danault.
Luff scored on a shot through traffic to pull Los Angeles to within 3-1 at 11:03. It was the eighth goal for Luff, who grew up a fan of the Canadiens in Oakville, Ontario.
"I mean, scoring on him was pretty cool," said Luff, whose parents are from Montreal. "But I'd trade my goal for a win tonight, so it's tough to not get the two points."

They said it

"He's been though some good years. He's also been through some tougher years, and for the most part, he's always stood tall and done a great job. You don't reach those records (without) being good, and then finding ways to have success, so deservingly tonight was a good game for him and a good game for our team, so I'm sure it feels good to have that accomplishment." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien on Carey Price tying Jacques Plante for most wins by a Montreal goalie
"We had some quality chances just around the net, but we were just a half-second slow and we didn't get to the pucks. But I thought the effort was there again." -- Kings coach Willie Desjardins

Need to know

Mete had two assists for his first multipoint game in the NHL. … Kings defenseman Drew Doughty had an assist for the third straight game. … Julien shuffled his forward lines, playing Paul Byron with Max Domi and Andrew Shaw and using Jonathan Drouin with Weal and Joel Armia. … Canadiens rookie center Jesperi Kotkaniemi was scratched for the first time this season.

What's next

Canadiens: At the San Jose Sharks on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSCA, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)
Kings: Host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, FS-MW, NHL.TV)