Kings score 4 in 1st, cruise past Blues

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings scored four goals in the first period of a 5-1 win against the St. Louis Blues at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Quinton Byfield had a power-play goal for the Kings (10-3-3), who are 8-1-2 in their past 11 games. Cam Talbot made 29 saves.

“I think we had a really strong period, got off to a good start,” Byfield said. “It always comes from the start. The message is get on them early, as many shots as you can and work them down low, and we ended up scoring a lot.”

Jordan Binnington allowed five goals on 31 shots for the Blues (8-7-1), who have lost the first two of a four-game West Coast road trip by identical 5-1 scores, including to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

“It starts with us leaders,” St. Louis center Robert Thomas said. “We've got to step up. We've got to play better, and it falls on our shoulders.”

Byfield scored on the power play 2:25 into the first for a 1-0 lead, sitting at the top of the crease to put in his own rebound off a centering pass by Anze Kopitar. The assist was Kopitar’s 756th in the NHL, moving him within one from Marcel Dionne for the Kings record.

Byfield, the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, got his third goal in 16 games to tie his output in 53 games last season. He is also second on Los Angeles with 11 assists.

“All my life I’ve been kind of a points guy, a producer, and always wanted the puck on my stick,” Byfield said. “I just got to get back to that. I came in with a different mindset this year, you know, try to be more assertive this year. I think the confidence is really, really high right now.”

Blake Lizotte made it 2-0 at 2:44, getting a turnover by Brayden Schenn and beating Binnington with a wrist shot below the right circle.

“Any shift after a goal is very important,” Thomas said. “Got to play the right way. You got to get the puck in deep, and even if you don’t create anything, just got to try and get the momentum back a little bit. It’s a big key for us that we need to get after.”

Kempe put the Kings up 3-0 at 13:37 with a backhand on a short-handed breakaway, and Pierre-Luc Dubois made it 4-0 at 15:20 on a one-timer in the right circle from Arthur Kaliyev.

“You always want to score as many goals as you can, but the momentum just took us,” Byfield said. “I think everyone was just feeling it tonight. Everyone was making really solid plays, safe game management, like everyone was doing the right things out there. We just came out hot and it was a lot of fun.”

Kevin Fiala extended the lead to 5-0 at 19:36 of the second period on a wrist shot from the left circle.

Jake Neighbours scored on a wrist shot from the left circle at 16:06 of the third period for the 5-1 final.

“You’re not going to come back on most nights against a team like that that’s stingy and plays with so much structure,” said Schenn, the Blues captain.

NOTES: Drew Doughty played his 1,111th game to tie Dave Taylor for third in Kings history; Kopitar leads with 1,308, and Dustin Brown played 1,296. ... Lizotte missed the final 12:57 of the third period after taking a hit from defenseman Robert Bortuzzo at center ice. Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan did not have an update. … Kempe’s short-handed goal was his 10th, tying him with Zigmund Palfy for sixth in Kings history. ... St. Louis defenseman Torey Krug was minus-3 in 20:53 of ice time.