Iafallo, Kings defeat Canadiens to end six-game slide

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings won for the first time in seven games, 5-2 against the Montreal Canadiens at Staples Center on Saturday.

Alex Iafallo had two goals and an assist, and Arthur Kaliyev and Rasmus Kupari each scored a power-play goal for the Kings (2-5-1), who were 0-5-1 since a 6-2 win in their season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 14. Cal Petersen made 26 saves.
Los Angeles was 3-for-5 on the power play after going 2-for-21 in its previous six games.
"We've been waiting for that to happen," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "And when you score like that on the power play, other parts of your game come along with it. You get confident. I think that might have been the difference in the game tonight."
Josh Anderson scored for a second straight game, and Jake Allen made 33 saves for the Canadiens (2-7-0), who were coming off a 4-0 win at the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, when Allen made 45 saves.
"It takes a certain level of compete, a certain level of work to win in this league every night," Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot said. "And right now, we're not willing to give that on a consistent basis. And our results show that."

Montreal held a 20-minute team meeting following the game.
"We have to be accountable," Canadiens forward Tyler Toffoli said. "We have to find ways to man up with ourselves and with each other and be grown-ups in the locker room, and understand if you're not playing well then you need to figure it out."
Kaliyev put the Kings in front 2-1 at 12:19 of the second period with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle through traffic.
Kupari made it 3-1 at 1:53 of the third period with Dustin Brown screening Allen on a wrist shot from the right circle. It was Kupari's second straight game with a goal.

The Kings mixed up the forwards on their power-play units in hopes of creating more offense, a move that came after having to elevate defensemen Kale Clague, Matt Roy, Mikey Anderson and Tobias Bjornfot into more prominent roles on the power play because of injuries to Drew Doughty and Sean Walker.
Doughty is out eight weeks with a knee injury; Walker is out for the season with an ACL and MCL tear.
"That's just how it works sometimes," Iafallo said. "Someone's not hot, you switch 'em out, and all of a sudden it starts going in. So it's good, it helped us win the game."
Iafallo took the rebound of Roy's shot and skated around Allen to score into an open net, giving Los Angeles a 4-1 lead at 5:37.
Iafallo scored the Kings' third power-play goal to make it 5-1 at 14:16.

Chiarot said the Canadiens did not respond well to adversity, starting when Viktor Arvidsson tied it 1-1 for the Kings at 4:31 of the second period after Anderson put Montreal ahead 1-0 at 18:22 of the first period.
"We don't seem to have the right response now, the right kind of fight back, and that's the biggest thing," said Chiarot, who scored at 17:40 for the 5-2 final. "I mean, we had momentum kind of rolling in that game, and then it kind of flips on us. Bunch of penalties, obviously, but we have to be able to bounce back."
NOTES: Kings center Phillip Danault had an assist in his first game against the Canadiens since leaving them to sign with Los Angeles as a free agent July 28. He played the previous six seasons for Montreal. … Kings center Anze Kopitar had two assists for his third multipoint game of the season. … Roy had two assists, his first points in eight games this season. … Clague had an assist and two blocked shots playing in 19:10 in his season debut. He led Los Angeles with 4:02 of power-play time. … Kings forward Lias Andersson had two shots on goal and played 13:17 in his season debut; he had been out with a groin injury sustained in the preseason. … Los Angeles forward Brendan Lemieux played 13:01 after missing six games in the NHL COVID-19 protocol. ... It was Iafallo's second three-point game in the NHL; he scored a hat trick against the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 30, 2020. … Toffoli faced the Kings for the first time since they traded him to the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 17, 2020. The forward had four hits, one shot on goal and one blocked shot in 17:36. Toffoli played his first eight NHL seasons with Los Angeles, winning the Stanley Cup in 2014.