Fiala scores twice in 3rd, Kings pull away from Canadiens

LOS ANGELES -- Kevin Fiala scored twice in the third period, and Quinton Byfield had three assists in the Los Angeles Kings’ 6-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday.

The line of Byfield, Fiala and Alex Laferriere (one assist) combined for six points and a plus-seven rating. They had four points and a plus-six rating in a 4-2 win at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday when Fiala also scored two goals and Byfield had two assists.

“I think what’s different with me now than in the beginning of the season when I play with [Byfield], I think I play with a lot of speed,” Fiala said. “Right now, it’s more north-[south], and that’s why I think we’re clicking.”

Vladislav Gavrikov had a goal and an assist, and Warren Foegele scored on a penalty shot and also had an assist for the Kings (28-17-6), who won their second straight game following a four-game losing streak (0-3-1). Darcy Kuemper made 18 saves.

Mike Matheson, Alexandre Carrier and Logan Mailloux scored for the Canadiens (25-24-5), who have lost six of seven (1-5-1). Jakub Dobes made 31 saves.

“I think we were, honestly, just playing catchup for that whole game,” Montreal center Jake Evans said. “We had some bright spots, but when you’re chasing the game, sometimes your defensive game starts to lag and that’s what happened.”

The Canadiens were playing the second game of a back-to-back after winning 4-3 at the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

Gavrikov gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead 1:39 into the first period on a slap shot from the left point through Laferriere’s screen.

Matheson tied it 1-1 at 3:51 of the second period when his long shot hit defenseman Drew Doughty in the back and struck Kuemper in the mask before going in.

Foegele put the Kings back ahead 2-1 at 5:23 after beating Dobes on a snap shot from the low slot to the left side. Foegele had been pulled down from behind on a breakaway by Mailloux to earn the penalty shot.

Foegele credited assistant coach Derik Johnson for breaking down Dobes’ tendencies, which proved useful on his first NHL penalty shot attempt.

“He was working with a couple of us yesterday in film on breakaways and things like that,” Foegele said. “So, it’s funny how that works, working on video and then the next day you got that opportunity, so shout out to him.”

Brandt Clarke extended it to 3-1 at 15 seconds of the third period on a slap shot from the right point set up by Anze Kopitar. It was Clarke’s first point in two games since being scratched against the Florida Panthers on Jan. 29 and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan 30.

“I think he was frustrated with it and accepted it, and was ready to play when called upon,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. “But [being scratched] happens. It happens to most young players, to be honest with you, in a long NHL season.”

Carrier cut it to 3-2 at 3:37 when his shot from the blue line took a deflection off Alex Turcotte’s stick.

Fiala made it 4-2 at 10:46 on a one-timer from the right circle off a cross-slot pass from Laferriere.

Mailloux cut it to 4-3 at 13:37, but Fiala scored his second goal of the game at 14:12 to make it 5-3 with another one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Gavrikov.

“We had our looks, we had our chances too,” Mailloux said. “I think, obviously, the start’s not what we want, but I think we fought back. And we’d get one, they’d get one.”

Fiala has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past 10 games.

“He’s worked his way through it, and he’s been working hard and consistently and really, I think, playing some of his best hockey consistently, can probably go back about 10 games,” Hiller said. “Hasn’t got all the results, but you could just feel it coming, or we could at least. So it’s nice to see it start to go in for him.”

Trevor Moore scored an empty-net goal at 17:30 for the 6-3 final.

NOTES: Fiala reached the 20-goal mark for the sixth straight season and the seventh time in 11 NHL seasons. … Byfield recorded his second three-point game of the season. He had two goals and an assist against the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 28. It was also Byfield’s second career game with three assists (Nov. 4, 2023, against the Philadelphia Flyers). … Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson recorded his 40th assist in 56 NHL games to tie Nicklas Lidstrom as the fifth-fastest defenseman in League history to reach 40 career assists.