Toffoli Scores Twice As Kings Match Blues For Best In West
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tyler Toffoli scored twice, backup goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 39 saves and the Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Friday night.
Los Angeles won its fourth straight, including three in a row on the road. The Kings tied the Blues for the best record in the Western Conference with 35 points.
The Blues have lost three of four, getting outscored 7-3. They completed their five-game homestand 2-3.
Toffoli has three goals in the past two games and three two-goal games this year. He has 13 goals total this season.
Kuemper, who gets limited action behind star Jonathan Quick, is now 4-0-2.
Adrian Kempe got his ninth goal of the year while the teams were skating 4-on-4 late in the second period to give the Kings a 3-1 lead. He has two goals and an assist in his last three games.
Patrik Berglund scored his first goal since April 6, 2017 against Florida. He missed the first 24 games this season while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. He returned Wednesday night.
The Kings got an early jump on the Blues with two goals in just over six minutes into the opening period. Toffoli opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game and Anze Kopitar scored his 13th less than five minutes later. Kopitar has three goals and four points in his past three games.
NOTES: The Kings are 12-0-2 when scoring three or more goals this season. ... Los Angeles had what would have been its third goal waved off about seven minutes into the second period. Drew Doughty was ruled to have interfered with goaltender Carter Hutton, negating Dustin Brown's goal. ...The Blues pulled Hutton prior to the third period. He allowed three goals on 21 shots. Jake Allen, the usual starter, took over. ... The Blues wore light purple warmup sweaters with sparkly lettering in honor of Hockey Fights Cancer night. The lettering was a nod to Arianna Dougan, the 11-year-old girl who Vladimir Tarasenko befriended last season and who spent time with the team on a road trip while fighting cancer. She passed away on Nov. 11. Her family took part in the ceremonial puck drop.
UP NEXT
Blues: Travel to Minnesota on Saturday night.
Kings: Conclude four-game trip Sunday night at Chicago.
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