Quick makes 31 saves, Kings shut out Blues for fifth straight win

ST. LOUIS -- Jonathan Quick made 31 saves to help the Los Angeles Kings to their fifth straight win, 3-0 against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Monday.

Dustin Brown scored two goals in his 1,200th NHL game for the Kings (8-6-3), who have outscored their opponents 19-6 during their winning streak.
"I think it's definitely a team collective [effort]," Brown said. "There's huge parts of the team that weathered the storm, and now we're back. I think people outside the room may be surprised. We're building on last year and we've got confidence. We've got a good, veteran core group, and some other spots have been filled by young players. That's a good thing for us."

Jordan Binnington made 28 saves for the Blues (10-7-2), who are 1-4-1 in their past six home games after being shut out for the third time this season.
"I think we aren't trusting ourselves very much right now," St. Louis captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "You could see a couple times on the forecheck we're not putting [pucks] in the right areas and making it a little too easy for them to break out, but it took too long [to get going]. We need to spark some offense and get some sort of momentum that way. You could tell the more the game went on, the more frustrating it was that we couldn't get one. ... It's tough. It's a frustrating loss, but we have to regroup and get back at it."
The teams are scheduled to play here again Wednesday.
Gabriel Vilardi gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 17:30 of the first period with a power-play goal off a loose puck.

Brown scored unassisted off a Zach Sanford turnover at 18:54 of the second to make it 2-0. He curled around Brayden Schenn and tucked a shot inside the right post.
"I feel good on the ice," Brown said. "I've played in this league for a while. Knowing the game is huge at this level. You get better if you pay attention. I think I play a lot better than I did when I began. You always work to get better each year. If you put in the work, you can excel."
Brown scored an empty-net goal with 1:03 remaining for the 3-0 final.

It was Quick's second shutout in three starts and the 54th of his NHL career.
"We're not surprised one bit," Kings coach Todd McLellan said of the winning streak. "We have some confidence. Everybody is in sync. We're structurally pretty sound. We're making plays. We're getting good goaltending. Our specialty teams are giving us a boost most nights. Is that surprising? To us no, but maybe to the hockey world a little bit."
NOTES: The Blues, already without five injured skaters, lost defenseman Carl Gunnarsson with 9:20 remaining in the second period to a lower-body injury. He was helped off the ice favoring his right knee/leg. "He'll be out a while," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We'll reevaluate tomorrow." … Kings defenseman Sean Walker returned to the lineup after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. He was plus-1 with one hit in 17:58. ... Brown has eight points (six goals, two assists) in the past six games, and his 10 goals are tied with Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks for the most in the Honda West Division. ... The Blues lost for the first time this season in the first of a two-game set. They were 7-0-0.