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The Los Angeles Kings picked up a road win tonight, defeating the St. Louis Blues 5-1.
SCARY HOURS 😈#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/KX1QyYZfMh
— LA Kings (@LAKings) November 1, 2022
The second period, however, was a completely different story. The Kings extended their lead early in the frame, as Kevin Fiala found Rasmus Kupari with a great cross-ice pass, before Kupari sent a perfect feed to Carl Grundstrom for a tap-in, making it a 2-0 game. Then just over a minute later, Anze Kopitar dished the puck off to Gabriel Vilardi for a give-and-go before getting it back and tapping the puck in for a three-goal lead. The Kings had all the momentum after that, generating more chances on a power play and just as the man advantage was expiring, Trevor Moore poked a puck over to Arthur Kaliyev, for the Kings’ third goal in four minutes for a 4-0 lead. Los Angeles wasn’t done there, as only a couple minutes after that, as Carl Grundstrom’s shot beat Jordan Binnington coming down the wing, to extend the lead to five goals.
The Blues did get one back right after that though, with Alexei Toropchenko poking in a loose puck. St. Louis then created a bit of momentum after that but the Kings didn’t let the Blues get any closer in the frame, taking a 5-1 lead to the second intermission.
While the Kings didn’t come out with a dominant period by any means in the final frame, they did what they had to in terms of keeping St. Louis from getting back into the game. The Blues did have some pretty good chances to add another goal or two, especially late in the game, but the Kings held them off for a 5-1 win.
With the win, the Kings get back above the .500 mark, which is a huge step. The Pacific Divison and Western Conference overall are weak enough that the Kings now become one of only seven teams in the conference above a .500 points percentage.
Tonight also marked Todd McLellan’s 100th win with the Kings, along with Gabriel Vilardi’s 100th career NHL game.
With the win, we saw just how dominant the Kings can be when the entire forward group is clicking. I thought this was one of Kevin Fiala’s best games as a member of the Kings – he was all over the ice, consistently using his speed and high-end playmaking ability to create opportunities.
I had also noted in the last game recap that Rasmus Kupari looked pretty good in his first game of the year against Toronto, but he was even better tonight. He set up a goal for Carl Grundstrom with a great pass, but was also playing with a lot of intensity and engaging in battles. Like Vilardi (though maybe to a lesser extent), there seems to be noticeable growth in Kupari's game from last year.
The Kings certainly still weren’t without their mistakes tonight, still giving up some really good chances off of poor mistakes. At one point, the Blues literally had a 3-on-0 as a result of a bad change, that was pokechecked away by Jonathan Quick. That said, we know the Kings are still a fairly young team and as a result, mistakes will be part of the learning curve.
It’s a big win for the Kings with a lot of positives to draw from, as they improve to 6-5-0 this season. Los Angeles will be right back in action tomorrow, when they face the Dallas Stars.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
Kings announce opening night roster Late goal sinks Kings in opening night loss to Golden Knights Brandt Clarke makes NHL debut in Kings' 4-1 loss to Kraken Kings pick up first win of season in Kevin Fiala's return to Minnesota Kings earn key overtime win in Detroit Kings battle back to defeat Predators in shootout Kings’ three-game road winning streak snapped in loss to Penguins Kings collapse in third period, blow lead in loss to Capitals Kings earn important home win over Lightning Kings outplay Jets but lose 6-4 Kings rebound for 4-2 win over Leafs