Kings cruise as Blues drop fifth consecutive game

[November 01, 2022] Carl Grundstrom scored twice and Kevin Fiala had three assists as the visiting Los Angeles Kings rolled over the slumping St. Louis Blues 5-1 on Monday night.

The Kings won for the third time in their past four games while the Blues lost their fifth consecutive game.

Gabriel Vilardi, Anze Kopitar and Arthur Kaliyev also scored for the Kings. Jonathan Quick made 27 saves and Todd McLellan earned his 100th victory as Kings coach.

Alexey Toropchenko scored for the Blues. Jordan Binnington allowed five goals on 19 shots before departing midway through the game. Thomas Greiss entered and stopped all 11 shots he faced.

Blues defenseman Torey Krug exited the game with an upper-body injury after taking a hard hit into the boards early in the third period.
 

The Kings took a 1-0 lead 13:12 into the game while playing six-on-five, with Quick off for an extra attacker during a delayed penalty against the Blues.

Fiala made a diagonal pass from atop the left circle to Vilardi at the right post for his redirection goal -- his fourth goal in his past four games.

The Kings scored three times in less than five minutes of the second period to push their lead to 4-0. First Fiala made a pass from the right circle to the left post to set up Grundstrom's redirection goal at 3:44.

St. Louis Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (41) and Los Angeles Kings left wing Brendan Lemieux (48) battle for the puck during the first period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Kopitar converted Vilardi's cross-ice pass for a tap-in goal at the left post at 5:06.

Los Angeles made it 4-0 at 7:39 by scoring just before its power play expired. Binnington stopped Viktor Arvidsson's shot from the left, but Trevor Moore swiped the rebound over to Kaliyev, who scored into the open right side of the net.

Grundstrom made it 5-0 -- and chased Binnington from the game -- by scoring from the left wing midway through the second period on a shot off the stick of Blues defenseman Justin Faulk.

Toropchenko put the Blues on the board 43 seconds later by jamming in the rebound of his point-blank shot.

--Field Level Media

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