FINAL – Kings 5, Flyers 0 – Talbot, Kempe, Kaliyev, McLellan

The LA Kings improved to 6-0-0 on the road this season with a 5-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday evening at Wells Fargo Center in Pennsylvania.

After a back-and-forth start to the game, the Kings scored twice in a span of 18 seconds to take a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

First, the Kings buried a goal in transition as defenseman Mikey Anderson broke up a play in the neutral zone to send the visitors going the other way. Forward Quinton Byfield drove into the offensive zone down the left wing and fed linemate Adrian Kempe in front, with a redirection beating former Kings goaltender Cal Petersen for the game’s first goal. Forward Anze Kopitar made it 2-0 just 18 seconds later, as he redirected a shot from the point from defenseman Matt Roy for his team-leading sixth goal of the season and a two-goal advantage.

The Kings added two more goals late in the second period to open up a four-goal advantage through 40 minutes of play. Forward Arthur Kaliyev picked up the team’s third goal of the game, a power-play goal, off a nice bit of work and setup from Byfield, the third helper of the evening for the 21-year-old forward. Forward Trevor Moore made it 4-0 inside the final minute of the middle stanza, with a wrist shot clean past Petersen from the right-hand circle. Kaliyev made it a multi-point night with the primary helper on the play.

Forward Blake Lizotte scored the lone goal of the third period, as he worked his way into the slot and buried a feed from forward Alex Laferriere, first time, for his third goal of the season. The assist for Laferriere was the first of his NHL career, bringing the Kings to a 5-0 victory.

Goaltender Cam Talbot stopped all 24 shots he faced in the victory, as he earned his first shutout as a member of the Kings. Talbot picked up the victory in all three games on the current roadtrip, improving his record to 6-2-1 on the season.

Hear from Talbot, Kempe, Kaliyev and Head Coach Todd McLellan following tonight’s game.

Cam Talbot
On getting his first shutout as a member of the Kings, and another victory
You know, the win is what’s really important but shutout is always just an added bonus as far as I’m concerned. Guys did a great job of locking down the third period there, didn’t give them anything really, and managed the game really well, so it’s just a byproduct of that.

On his thoughts after the Kings took that 2-0 lead with two consecutive goals
They’re a dangerous group, so two goals early on, it’s not unattainable for them to come back. We knew that we had to continue playing our game and knew that it wasn’t over in the first 10 minutes. We did a great job of establishing our game all night and didn’t really give them much.

On a perfect night for the penalty kill
Yeah, they’re clicking huge, it’s always so easy to read off, when everyone’s on the same page and everyone’s doing their job. Obviously they’ve still got one extra guy, so they’re going to create some chances, but we did a great job of limiting their second chances tonight. Going perfect on the kill was a big part of this game.

Adrian Kempe
On getting another goal tonight, after an assist-fueled start to the season
I think for me, I’ve always been a shooter and I think I still have some of the most shots on the team, so I’ve tried to still score as much as I can. When I have a chance to pass it to one of my teammates, I try to do that too and obviously I’ve get been getting some assists this year too, it’s nice for me to get those for sure. I’m just trying to still play the same way I have been and Kopi’s off to a hot start, so I’ve just to keep passing it to him.

On getting another big win away from home
They had some chances, obviously, I think Talbs played great tonight again, so that’s a good sign for us. At the end of the night, I think we managed the game pretty well, obviously we scored five, so that’s a good sign and we’ve just got to keep that going.

On Quinton Byfield’s game and his continued evolution offensively
I think he’s been doing it all year and all last year, at least when he played with us, that’s what I was feeling. He wins a ton of battles down low, against the big d-men, which shows that he’s using his body really well. Going back to last year, we had a ton of chances and he didn’t really get the points that he deserved, so those are showing up a little bit more this year. I think everybody’s really happy for him.

Arthur Kaliyev
On what he liked most about the way the Kings played tonight, especially at 5-on-5
Yeah, we just had a good push at the start, that kept them in the zone, kept a couple of pucks alive, we got shots to the net from the point and from the forwards. A couple of good tips in the first, that got it going good.

On the balance the Kings are striking right now with four solid lines
Yeah, I think we’re playing really confident and every guy’s willing to give in. We just got to keep it consistent every night and keep going the same way that we have been over these last couple of games, like we have been on this stretch.

On his goal and Quinton Byfield’s work to get it over to him
It was kind of a broken play there, it wasn’t really set up, but I think he worked hard for that puck, he won a couple of battles. I just got the puck on my stick and just ripped it.

Todd McLellan

Coach McLellan speaks with media post game🎤@LAKings I #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/keCzRB5Sz6

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 5, 2023

Notes –
– Quinton Byfield (0-3=3) recorded his first career three-assist game and the second three-point outing of his career (2-1=3 on March 22, 2022 vs. NSH). In doing so, Byfield is the first Kings player 21 years of age or younger to record three assists in a game since Drew Doughty (0-3—3 at DET) on Dec. 13, 2010.
– Anze Kopitar (1-0=1) tallied his sixth goal of the year for the 399th of his career, moving one shy of becoming the fourth skater in team history to score 400 goals. Kopitar (399-754=1,152) also sits two points shy of Luc Robitaille (557-597=1,154) for second-most points in franchise history.
– Adrian Kempe (1-0=1) scored his fourth goal of the season to extend his point streak to a sixth game (3-6=9). With the goal, Kempe ties teammate Kevin Fiala (1-11=12) for the team lead in points. It is the third time in Kempe’s career that he has recorded a point streak of at least six games.
– Trevor Moore (1-1=2) registered his second multi-point performance of the season. Moore’s goal was his sixth of the season, tying teammate Anze Kopitar for the team lead. Moore has now scored six points (2-4=6) in his last three games against the Flyers.
– Arthur Kaliyev (1-1=2) notched his second multi-point outing of the 2023-24 campaign, including his second power-play goal of the season. Kaliyev has now recorded at least one point (1-3=4) in all three career games played against the Flyers.
– Blake Lizotte (1-0=1) notched his third goal of the season and first of his career against Philadelphia.
– Vladislav Gavrikov (0-1=1), Matt Roy (0-1=1) and Alex Laferriere (0-1=1) each netted assists. Laferriere’s helper was the first assist of his career. and third point (2-1=3) of his NHL career.
– Cam Talbot stopped all 24 shots faced for his 29th career shutout to improve his record to 6-2-1 on the year. Talbot is the fifth goaltender in NHL history to record a shutout with six-plus franchises (LAK, OTT, MIN, CGY, EDM & NYR), joining Sean Burke (7), Lorne Chabot (6), Dwayne Roloson (6) and Jaroslav Halak (6).
– With five goals tonight, the Kings have recorded 47 goals through their first 11 games of a season for the seventh time in franchise history and first since 1993-94 (47G). Of their 47 goals, 29 have come in the first six road games of the year. It is just the third time in Kings history the team has scored at least 29 goals in the first six road games to start a season, having previously been accomplished in the 1980-81 (32G) and 1981-82 (29G) seasons.
– The Kings won their sixth road game of the year, improving their road record to 6-0-0. They are the 14th different team in league history to win each of their first six road games of a season, and the eighth to do so in the last 20 years.

The Kings have a scheduled team off day tomorrow, following their return flight from Philadelphia. The team is scheduled to return to the ice for practice on Monday, November 6 at Toyota Sports Performance Center at 11 AM.

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