The Kings’ Gabe Vilardi scores past St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington during the first period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Gabe Vilardi celebrates after scoring during the first period of their game against the St. Louis Blues on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Arthur Kaliyev, right, and the St. Louis Blues’ Colton Parayko chase after a loose puck along the boards during the first period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Carl Grundstrom, right, gets tangled up with the St. Louis Blues’ Robert Bortuzzo during the first period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Drew Doughty passes the puck as the St. Louis Blues’ Jake Neighbours, left, defends during the first period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Kevin Fiala handles the puck as the St. Louis Blues’ Noel Acciari defends during the first period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Carl Grundstrom skates up the ice during the first period of their game against the St. Louis Blues on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Phillip Danault, center, reaches for a loose puck as the St. Louis Blues’ Ryan O’Reilly, left, and Justin Faulk defend during the first period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Kevin Fiala brings the puck down the ice during the first period of their game against the St. Louis Blues on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Carl Grundstrom, left, scores past St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington and Calle Rosen (43) as Noel Acciari (52) watches during the second period on Monday night in St. Louis. Grundstrom scored two goals in the second period of a 5-1 win. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The St. Louis Blues’ Logan Brown is unable to reach a loose puck as Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, bottom right, Blake Lizotte (46) and Matt Roy defend during the second period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Anze Kopitar, left, scores past St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington and Colton Parayko, center, during the second period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick takes a knee during a timeout in the second period of their game against the St. Louis Blues on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Arthur Kaliyev, right, scores past St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington and Calle Rosen (43) as the Kings’ Trevor Moore, left, watches during the second period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The St. Louis Blues’ Alexey Toropchenko celebrates after scoring during the second period of their game against the Kings on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The St. Louis Blues’ Alexey Toropchenko celebrates after scoring during the second period of their game against the Kings on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Phillip Danault, left, and the St. Louis Blues’ Robert Thomas battle for a loose puck during the third period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Gabe Vilardi controls the puck as St. Louis Blues goaltender Thomas Greiss defends the near post during the third period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Blake Lizotte, left, and the St. Louis Blues’ Nick Leddy battle for a loose puck along the boards during the third period on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick deflects a puck during the third period of their game against the St. Louis Blues on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kings’ Drew Doughty brings the puck down the ice during the third period of their game against the St. Louis Blues on Monday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
ST. LOUIS — Carl Grundstrom and the Kings started a busy portion of their schedule on a positive note.
Grundstrom scored two goals in the Kings’ four-goal second period, and the Kings beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-1, on Monday night to begin a stretch of three games in four nights.
“Had a couple of chances there and it was nice to get two goals tonight,” Grundstrom said. “I just try to stay open. It’s always fun to score.”
Gabe Vilardi, Anze Kopitar and Arthur Kaliyev also scored for the Kings, who have won three of their past four games. Jonathan Quick stopped 27 shots.
The Kings went ahead 1-0 when Vilardi tipped in the puck from the right side off a pass from Kevin Fiala with 6:48 left in the first.
The Kings pulled away with four goals in the first 10 minutes of the second. The first two goals looked the same. Grundstrom scored on a backdoor tip-in at 3:44 and Kopitar followed with a tip-in goal at 5:06 that caused Blues fans to boo loudly.
“Well, you’ve got to take what you’re given,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “I think early in the year, we were forcing some stuff and still getting rewarded. Tonight, we took what was there. You have to read quick and take what’s there. Our team did a better job tonight on that than we have.”
Kaliyev scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot at 7:39 and Grundstrom scored his second goal at 9:59 for a 5-0 lead and ending the night for Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington.
Alexey Toropchenko scored for St. Louis, which has lost five straight in regulation for the first time since Craig Berube took over as coach during the 2018-19 season.
“You gotta realize how tough it is to win in this league,” Blues forward Brayden Schenn said. “And I don’t think we realize that right now.”
It is also the Blues’ worst skid since an 0-6-1 stretch from March 22 to April 5, 2021.
“We got outworked and outskated,” Berube said. “Not hungry enough, not desperate enough. They gotta want to dig in and play a lot harder than that. I mean, we’re not playing good hockey.”
Binnington was pulled after giving up five goals on 18 shots. Thomas Greiss came on and stopped all 11 shots he faced.
Toropchenko got the Blues on the scoreboard when he poked in the puck on a rebound of his own shot 43 seconds later.
Opponents have outscored the Blues 25-8 during their losing streak.
Kings’ early lead fades away as Winnipeg hands them 3rd loss in 4 games
SCORING TWO
It was the second career two-goal game for Grundstrom. His first came last Nov. 27 in a 4-2 win against Ottawa.
INJURIES
Kings center Quinton Byfield (illness) is listed as day to day. … Left wing Alex Iafallo (lower body) was out. Blues left wing Brandon Saad (upper body) is listed as day to day and has missed the past four games. … Blues defenseman Marco Scandella (hip) and defenseman Scott Perunovich (shoulder) were out.
