The LA Kings improved to 4-0-1 in the preseason with a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins Thursday night at Videotron Center in Quebec City.

The first period came and went without a goal. Overall, the Kings defeated the Bruins by an 11-2 margin, with their best chances coming in the final five minutes. After quite an extensive feeling process, Los Angeles turned up the intensity towards the end of the frame, with their best chance coming from an Adrian Kempe setup against Anze Kopitar through the slot, which was kept out by former Kings netminder Joonas Korpisalo.

After more than 30 minutes without a goal, the teams came together for three goals in exactly 30 seconds, giving the Kings a 2-1 lead.

First, the tandem of Kevin Fiala and Quinton Byfield connected on the rush to open the scoring. Fiala carried the puck down the left wing with speed, creating a 2-on-1 rush. From the left side, he threaded a pass through the slot to Byfield, who hammered the one-timer past Korpisalo for the first goal of the match.

Just 24 seconds later, the Kings doubled their lead as Byfield scored his second of the game. Fiala fed Joel Edmundson a cross on the left point and although his shot was blocked in front, Byfield won a battle in front of the net to bury the rebound from close range for his second goal of the match, with Fiala collecting his second assist of the match. net at stake.

Essentially after the ensuing faceoff, the Bruins got on the scoreboard to make it a 2-1 game entering the second intermission. Boston moved the puck efficiently through the neutral zone, with forward Patrick Brown splitting the Kings defenders off the rush. Brown fired from the slot and beat Kings netminder David Rittich clean with a wrist shot as the Kings saw their lead cut to 2-1.

Early in the third period, the Kings got a shorthanded goal that put them back up by two. In a reverse of their role in Ontario this weekend, this time it was Anze Kopitar who led the rush, before guiding linemate Adrian Kempe through the slot for a one-timer in transition, buried by Kempe for the 3-1 lead with his second goal of the exhibition season.

Byfield completed the hat trick midway through the third period as the Kings opened a 4-1 lead. Forward Trevor Moore, stationed in the corner, fired a puck towards the net as Byfield drove through the slot, got a stick on the pass and worked it past Korpisalo for his third goal of the match.

Listen to Byfield, Kempe, Fiala and Head Coach Jim Hiller after tonight’s game.

Quinton Byfield

Kevin Fiala
When I saw Quinton Byfield controlling tonight’s game offensively
Yes, it was a good match and you could see we were connected, Foegs too, we had a good match. It’s really nice to see (Quinton) dominate, like you said, he’s using his big body and his skills now. So I like to see him make plays and just be brave.

About finding a house on par with Byfield and Foegele
I enjoy playing with both boys. It’s not my decision, but I have the feeling that everyone wants to play with the same line throughout the season. It’s okay to move for the sake of the team, sometimes something doesn’t work, but as you can see now, it does, so I don’t think there will be any changes.

Tonight’s game will be the first time everyone will play together this season
It’s great to play with the (full) team, to see how good we are, they are, they had some kind of team too. You never know where we stand before the season, so it’s great to see a good team. A good team win today and we just have to move on.

Adrian Kempe
Anze Kopitar returned the favor from Saturday on that short 2-on-1
Yes, it was good. Usually it’s Kopi who finds me, but last game it was the other way around. PK has been good and aggressive, we had a few chances tonight, not just us but a few other guys as well. Strange people run, which is fun when you’re on the other side. It was a good pass (from Kopitar), I just tried to find the open net.

About the general aggression of criminal murder
As far as the system goes, it’s pretty similar to last year, it’s just more aggressive. I think it’s a little easier to adapt to that part than maybe last year, adapting to a completely new PK forecheck and all that. So I think it comes pretty naturally, and I can only speak for myself, but if you’re more aggressive in the d-zone, if you’re on the other side of it, you hate when other teams just attack you because you don’t have much time. There will be times where we make mistakes, but as long as we can stay aggressive and do it all together, I think it will work out well.

On wearing the “A” in Drew Doughty’s absence
I think I said this last year, obviously it means a lot to me, carrying a letter. Whether I have it or not, I try to play the same way, be loud on the ice, talk to all the guys and help as much as I can. Like I said before, it’s nice to see that the coaches and players trust me in that area, so that’s nice and it feels good.

Jim Hiller
About Quinton Byfield’s performance tonight
He played well. Still, he played well. I guess you could say he’s done (tonight). The second goal was right in front of the net, the third goal was drive through, the first goal was really nice, great play from Kevin. He’s been playing like that, I think, for me, he’s been playing like that since the beginning of camp. Maybe he hasn’t scored three goals, that will be part of the storyline, but he’s just playing. He’s just playing and I don’t think he did anything out of the ordinary tonight, just playing his game.

On the evolution of the penalty kill during the preseason
We are still working on it, because we have also given up a bit. They’ve missed some opportunities, where we may have missed assignments, so we’re still working on it, but you can definitely see we’re sharper and keep pushing. When you do that, you might give up some opportunities and some quality opportunities, but you’re also going to create. If you are sharp, you get a number of opportunities for the penalty kill and it shows.

About what he liked most tonight and throughout the preseason
I think what I probably liked most was that it was just a continuation. I go back to Day 1, we came out, we were focused, we played hard against a guy, and we think we understand our style of play better going here. I think it’s from our side that you wouldn’t see it that often. We talk to the players about certain things we want to see and more often than not we see them. I just think it’s a continuation of how we play and we like how we play.

About the audience and the atmosphere in the building tonight
It was great. I mean, it really started with the Patrice (ceremony) and the beautiful ovation, I think several ovations that he got from the audience. I thought this brought a lot of energy into the building early on. I don’t know what the shots were. Not much happened in the first period, but the crowd stayed there and saw some very nice goals. I think the building has really alleviated some of those 2-on-1 goals.

The Kings will practice tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Videotron Center in Quebec City.