Column: Kings school Canadiens after a refresher course

Refreshed by a two-day break at a mountain resort, the Kings on Thursday regained a spring in their step and a strong sense of purpose.

They were determined to prevent an overtime loss at Buffalo and a regulation loss at Ottawa from becoming a long slump, a mission clear in almost every facet of their 3-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

Goaltender Jonathan Quick was credited with 45 saves in his first shutout of Montreal and 39th of his career, though he insisted “the shot guys are pretty generous here.” His teammates, who took only 20 shots, supported him with goals by Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar late in the second period and an empty-net goal by Marian Gaborik in the third.

Their minds were as strong as their legs as they became the first team to blank the Canadiens this season and built a nine-point lead over second-place San Jose in the Pacific Division.

“When we come into a building after a couple losses, you don’t want to play us,” said Doughty, who stood out with a goal, an assist, a plus-two defensive rating and two blocked shots. “We want to be able to be a team that people are scared to play after a loss because we don’t like losing games. That’s one thing we’ve focused on this year and so far it’s been so-so, but we can get better at.”

That drive to win now, instead of counting on a late push to carry them into postseason play, separates this team from the team that last season was the first defending Stanley Cup champion to miss the playoffs since Carolina in 2007.

“From the group that was here last year we learned a lot about not letting a one-game or two-game [slide] turn into a four- or five-game because ultimately that’s what kept us out of the playoffs,” Dustin Brown said. “I thought tonight Quickie obviously was a huge part of it, but overall we had guys willing to do the little things to make a big difference.

“It’s a work in progress. It’s continuing to do that and stringing wins together. That should be the attitude around here.”

That attitude has prevailed for the most part, fueled by the pride of Quick and Doughty.

“Quickie’s one of the most competitive guys on our team. If I was going to say anyone is close to as competitive as me, it’s going to be Quickie,” Doughty said. “We have battles, no matter what it is. Cards, anything. Obviously he wasn’t happy about letting in four or five goals in Ottawa and he was going to come back with a strong game. That’s kind of what our team mentality is. After having kind of a letdown game we need to come back even stronger.”

The Kings played well the first few minutes but the Canadiens — who have lost six of their last seven — soon asserted themselves to outshoot the Kings, 18-7, in the period.

In addition, Lars Eller beat Quick on a short-handed breakaway only to have the puck hit the post. “I thought it was in and I didn’t even hear it hit the post. I for sure thought it was in,” Quick said. “You get the bounces sometimes. That was nice.”

Doughty scored the first goal at 14:47 of the second period, a few seconds after a Kings power play had ended. With Michael Mersch stationed in front, Doughty unleashed a shot from the right point that skipped past goalie Mike Condon. “That was a great screen by Merschy,” Doughty said. “That’s one of the things we brought him up here to do, to get in front and be a good presence there, and he did a great job.”

The lead became 2-0 at 16:22. Gaborik was behind the net when he passed the puck to Doughty, who was in the right circle. Doughty saw Kopitar on the opposite side and sent a cross-ice pass that Kopitar one-timed for his ninth goal this season.

Gaborik gave them an insurance goal with 49 seconds left in the third period, one of only three shots by the Kings in that period.

“We knew we were going to get a big load early from them and I think that’s what happened, and we weathered the storm,” Coach Darryl Sutter said. “Jonathan made some big saves and we were able to score the first goals.

“It was one of them games where you’re thinking, as it was going along, that the first goal is going to be the difference-maker.”

And so it was, thanks to Quick, Doughty, and the team’s renewed sense of purpose.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

Twitter: @helenenothelen