LOS ANGELES _ The Los Angeles Kings appeared to have the man coach Darryl Sutter called "the best goaltender in the world in any situation" at their mercy Sunday at Staples Center. They scored four times in the second period and built a one-goal lead over the Montreal Canadiens.
All that remained was to maintain their slim advantage, perhaps grow it by a goal or two, and then they could take a well-earned victory from Canadiens goalie Carey Price, who doesn't give up four goals in a game very often let alone four in a single period.
Tall order.
The Kings lost their lead in the opening minutes of the third period, then dropped the game 5-4 to the Canadiens in a four-round shootout. They picked up another valuable point, but with Price at less than his best, they were left to wonder what might have been.
"Our team did a good job of getting to Carey Price, not the easiest thing in the world right now," Kings goalie Peter Budaj said. "A little disappointing. There were, like, one or two I would have liked to have had back, kind of squeakers that got through me.
"At least we got the point, but I think we definitely could have had two."
Paul Byron scored the winner in the shootout for the Canadiens. Max Pacioretty scored two goals during regulation play and hit the post late in the five-minute overtime in a bid for a hat trick, and Alexander Radulov and Andrew Shaw also scored for Montreal.
Jeff Carter, Nick Shore, Drew Doughty and Trevor Lewis scored for the Kings. Lewis' goal, a pretty move to beat Price at the left goal post to complete a breakaway, gave the Kings a 4-3 lead with 2:19 remaining in the second period.
Shaw tied it 2:03 into the third.
The Kings led the Canadiens by scores of 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3, but lost each lead.
"We scored four goals, I think you should be able to win the game," Budaj said. "The game is so tight right now with scoring and goals-against. I think if you score four at home, you should be able to win it. It was one of those nights. I made some big saves, but I had some goals I'd like to have back."
Offense wasn't an issue for the Kings.
Defense was one, however.
Again.
The Kings gave up four goals in a 4-1 loss Wednesday to the San Jose Sharks, including an empty-net goal late in the game. They gave up three during a 4-3 victory Thursday over the Arizona Coyotes. Then they gave up four in the run of play against the Canadiens.
The Kings went into Sunday's game against Montreal with a 2.46 goals-against average in 24 games, 13th-best in the 30-team NHL. So, giving up three or more goals in three consecutive games while going 1-1-1 was uncharacteristic and disappointing, according to Sutter.
"That's too many goals," he said.
Doughty agreed.
"We pride ourselves on a hard-checking game, good defensively, and we try to give up at most two goals a game," he said. "It wasn't the offense that was the problem. They did the job today. We've got to play better defensively in front of (Budaj) because he's been really good for us."
