Rejuvenated Kings defeat Canadiens, 3-0, in Montreal

Two days of rest and relaxation at a mountain resort at Mont Tremblant seem to have done the Kings a world of good.

Refreshed by their break in the late stages of a six-game trip, the Kings on Thursday earned a 3-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre, fueled by the sharp goaltending of Jonathan Quick and the efficient conversion of the few scoring chances they manufactured.

Quick made 45 saves as the Kings improved to 3-1-1 on this trip, which ends on Saturday in Toronto. They’re 20-9-2 overall.

Second-period goals by Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar -- who was set up by Doughty -- supported Quick’s strong performance. Doughty, quizzed at every stop in this journey about whether he cares about winning the Norris trophy -- which is awarded annually to the NHL’s best defenseman and has been won by two players he faced on the trip, Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson and Montreal’s P.K. Subban -- stated his case emphatically on Thursday.

He had a goal, an assist and a plus-2 defensive rating while playing his usual heavy minutes and making an impact at both ends of the ice. Montreal, which has lost six of its last seven games, dominated play at times but Quick yielded nothing. The shutout was Quick’s second this season and the 39th of his NHL career. Montreal outshot the Kings, 45-20, and had a power play in the last four minutes of the third period but couldn’t connect.

Marian Gaborik scored into an empty net with 49.2 seconds to play to give the Kings an extra cushion.

The Kings had the better of the play in the opening minutes of the first period but the Canadiens gradually took control. Still, neither team scored in the first 20 minutes, despite 17 shots by Montreal and seven for the Kings.

The Kings had one power play, on which Coach Darryl Sutter used a four-forward, one-defenseman configuration for his first unit. He had Marian Gaborik, Jeff Carter and Milan Lucic up front, with center Anze Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty on the points, but they didn’t score.

Sutter’s second power-play unit included Michael Mersch and Jordan Weal, curious choices since both are young and have little NHL power-play experience. During their shift, Montreal center Lars Eller had a breakaway and Kings defenseman Alec Martinez hooked him in order to prevent him from scoring. Quick had to make saves on Dale Weise, Subban and Tomas Fleischmann but Montreal didn’t capitalize on the advantage.

Dustin Brown had an active and good first period, which hasn’t been true on a regular basis this season. He was skating alongside Tanner Pearson and Nick Shore and was credited with two shots, one hit and one takeaway.

The Kings didn’t often have possession of the puck in the second period but they scored twice in a span of 1 minute, 35 seconds to silence the crowd and take a 2-0 lead.

After getting no shots on a power play they had gained when P.K. Subban was sent off for interference, the Kings broke through. Doughty’s long slap shot, perhaps aided by Michael Mersch creating a screen in front, skipped past goalie Mike Condon at 14:47. The only assist went to Tyler Toffoli.

The Kings extended their lead despite their inability to connect on a two-on-one break involving Gaborik and Lucic. They kept the puck, though, and Gaborik controlled it behind the net. He passed to Doughty, who had skated in from the point and to the right circle, and Doughty relayed the puck cross-ice to Kopitar. The Slovenian center’s one-timer eluded Condon at 16:22, giving the Kings goals on two straight shots.

Quick continued to shine in the third period, especially early, and denied the Canadiens on several prime scoring chances.

Follow Helene Elliott on Twitter: @helenenothelen