The Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings don't have a storied rivalry, but Montreal has been dominant over Los Angeles in both the regular season and their one playoff series. The Canadiens have a 97-42-20-1 record over the Kings, and an astonishing 53-17-11 mark at home.
Despite the success, the record could be much better as the Canadiens are in the middle of a seven-game losing streak against the Kings. It stretched to seven earlier this season when Los Angeles went on their Eastern Canadian roadtrip and beat Montreal 4-1.
Justin Barron opened the scoring with a wraparound in the first period, but it was the only real pressure Montreal sustained in the game. It was one of the more embarrassing losses of the season, as the Kings dominated the rest of the way.
Mikey Anderson tied the game late in the first period, then Alex Laferriere gave them the go-ahead goal in the opening minutes of the second. Andreas Englund padded the lead in the third period, then Adrian Kempe buried the empty netter for the 4-1 win.
Canadiens-Kings Playoff History
The Canadiens and Kings played one time in the playoffs, but it was a series that Canadiens fans will remember forever. They faced off in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, with the Canadiens getting a chance to crush Wayne Gretzky's dreams in his best opportunity to win a cup with Los Angeles.
The Kings had an infamous run to the Finals, which included the phantom high stick on Doug Gilmour against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the conference finals. It worked out in the end for the Canadiens, but Kerry Fraser likely robbed the hockey world of a modern day Stanley Cup Finals pitting the Canadiens and Maple Leafs.
Another infamous moment happened in this series, as an illegal stick may have changed history. Marty McSorley received the penalty late in the third period of Game 2, with the Kings leading the series 1-0 and the game 2-1. Montreal tied the game on the powerplay and then won in overtime, before winning three consecutive games to win the series in five.
The Canadiens defeated the Quebec Nordiques, Buffalo Sabres, and New York Islanders on their way to the cup.