MONTREAL, Qc. - Three days after burying Jean Beliveau, a 10-time winner of the Stanley Cup and former Canadiens captain, Montreal seeks a second straight victory Friday night when the Los Angeles Kings visit the Bell Centre.
Montreal (18-10-2) returned home Tuesday to down Vancouver 3-1 as the Habs kicked off a five-game homestand.
Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Plekanec lit the lamp in a game preceded by a fifteen-minute tribute to Beliveau and a two-minute standing ovation for his widow, Elise, who sat next to the seat her husband occupied during his years as a team executive.
The chair was left open, with his number 4 emblazed into it.
Max Pacioretty leads Montreal with 22 points, notching his 9th goal this season with an empty-netter and an assist in Tuesday's win. He gave the winning puck to Mme Beliveau following the game.
"It was a little bit emotional before the game," Pacioretty said. "But I'm glad we got her a victory."
The Canadiens are 10-3-1 at home, to which they return after suffering their longest losing skid of the season, dropping three in a row to Minnesota, Chicago, and Dallas, all on the road.
"We all knew we needed to do more offensively," Gallagher said, whose strike opened scoring in the second period. "We generated a lot of chances. Every line contributed."
They average 3.1 goals at the Centre against 1.8 on the road, and have scored only 9 first period goals, the worst mark in hockey, outscored 8-2 in opening periods.
Los Angeles (15-9-5) visits the Habs for their third game in five away from home. After dropping two straight, they rebounded with a 5-3 decision over Ottawa Thursday night, after finding only 8 goals in their previous five games.
Jake Muzzin recorded three assists in Canada's capitol, setting up two goals in the third period to lift the Kings to a 4-5-1 record on the road.
His goal came 36 seconds after the Senators produced a 2-2 tie.
"That was big," Muzzin said afterwards. "They [Ottawa] had momentum going their way and we kind of shifted it back into our hands. To come back with a goal right away was huge."
Tyler Toffoli leads the Kings with 21 points (10 G, 11 A), a team that allows the third-fewest goals (2.1) against the Canadiens' 2.4 allowed-average.
The two sides played one another to decide the 1993 Stanley Cup Final. Montreal took the series in five games, the last time the Cup was awarded to a team north of the border.
LA won their previous two meetings with Montreal after losing their last seven.
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