The Canadiens only have five players left from the team that went to the Stanley Cup final in 2021 before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
They are: Nick Suzuki, Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher, Jake Evans and Cole Caufield.
The Los Angeles Kings have four players who were with the Canadiens when they went to the 2021 Cup final.
They are: Joel Edmundson, Joel Armia, Phillip Danault and Corey Perry.
Edmundson and Armia both scored for the Kings Tuesday night in a 5-1 win over the Canadiens at the Bell Centre. It was Edmundson’s first goal of the season and he added an assist. It was the third goal of the season for Armia, who was on the Kings’ No. 1 line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. Danault picked up an assist, his fourth of the season, but he’s still looking for his first goal after 17 games. Perry was held off the scoresheet, but the 40-year-old has 7-4-11 totals in 11 games.
Anderson scored the lone goal for the Canadiens — his second of the season — with 43 seconds left in the first period to give his team a 1-0 lead. But the Kings scored three goals in the first 5:22 of the second period and then the veteran-laden squad limited the Canadiens to six shots in the third period while getting goals from Armia, after he stripped Lane Hutson of the puck, and an empty-netter by Warren Foegele.
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki was asked after the game if it was weird to play against four former teammates.
“Not really,” he said. “I feel like we’re all used to it by now. We play against guys that we know all the time.
“All those guys were big role models for me,” Suzuki added. “I’ll probably go see them now.”
It was a good night for the Kings — who improved their record to 8-5-4 — and the former Canadiens.
It was a bad night for the Canadiens — who saw their record fall to 10-4-2 — and goalie Samuel Montembeault, who allowed four goals on 21 shots.
Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) watches the replay of the Los Angeles Kings’ third goal against him during second period NHL action in Montreal, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.
Montembeault, making his second straight start, saw his record fall to 4-4-1 with a 3.52 goals-against average and a .861 save percentage. You have to think head coach Martin St. Louis will start Jakub Dobes when the Canadiens face the Dallas Stars Thursday at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS). Dobes has a 6-0-1 record with a 2.25 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
“No, I don’t think I’m worried,” St. Louis said when asked about Montembeault’s confidence level. “I think we have two goalies. We’ve played pretty well as a group. We weren’t sharp in front of Monty tonight. So, no, I’m not worried.”
He should be.
St. Louis should also be worried about the lack of shots on goal the Canadiens are getting. They were outshot 26-22 by the Kings and rank dead-last in the NHL with an average of 24.7 shots per game. The Colorado Avalanche lead the NHL with an average of 33.9 shots and also have the best record in the league at 10-1-5.
“I feel like we’ve always been kind of low down in the shot department,” Suzuki said after getting three shots against the Kings to share the team lead with defenceman Noah Dobson. “We’re talking about how to create more offence. We’re probably more of a possession team than a high-volume team. But we got to get more pucks to the net. We’re getting shots blocked or not getting guys in front of the net as much. I felt like tonight the goalie saw a lot.”
The Kings’ Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves, improving his record to 6-3-3 with a 2.40 GAA and a .908 save percentage. Those are the type of numbers a team needs from its No. 1 goalie and the Canadiens aren’t getting them from Montembeault. He has allowed four or more goals in five of his nine starts.
It was also a tough night for Juraj Slafkovsky, who made several bad decisions with the puck in the offensive zone and finished the game with a season-low 12:12 of ice time. In the third period, St. Louis put Ivan Demidov in Slafkovsky’s spot on the No. 1 line with Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
“I think I was switching things up just to see if something stuck there,” the coach said. “Just coaching at that point in time. Trying to read where we are and who’s going. It’s not the first time I do that.”
It wouldn’t be a bad idea for St. Louis to do it again to start Thursday’s game against the Stars.
Time really does fly and the fact Danault is now in his fifth season with the Kings highlights that. Since going to Los Angeles, Danault has never lost a game to his former team. The Kings are 9-0 against the Canadiens dating back to Oct. 30, 2021.
“I’m happy they’re in the West,” St. Louis said with a grin. “We’ll have another chance this year.”
The Canadiens will play their second and final game against the Kings this season on March 7.
The former Canadiens will definitely have it marked on their calendars.
Los Angeles Kings defenceman Brandt Clarke (92) and Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield (13) stay down for a moment after crashing in to Los Angeles Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper (35) and the net during first period NHL action in Montreal, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.
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