LOS ANGELES — Joonas Korpisalo made 24 saves in his debut for the Los Angeles Kings, a 4-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
Korpisalo was acquired in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets for goalie Jonathan Quick on Wednesday.
“I thought he looked really confident,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “Not easy to play with a new team, not understanding the calls or touches or what may or may not happen. Part of goaltending is predictability, and you’re coming into a situation where you don’t really know the team at all. He made some really good saves.”
Gabriel Vilardi scored a power-play goal late in the third period for the Kings (36-20-8), who have won three straight and are 8-2-1 since the All-Star break.
“Guys played really well and helped me a lot today, especially in the end,” Korpisalo said. “After they scored their second goal, I don’t think I had any shots after, so it was a great job.”
Los Angeles is tied with the Vegas Golden Knights, who have two games in hand, for first in the Pacific Division.
“We know we need to win,” Kings defenseman Matt Roy said. “It’s a tight race out in the West for us, and we understand we need to bring it every night and need to find a way to win games.”
Kasperi Kapanen and Robert Thomas scored for the Blues (27-30-5), who are 1-5-2 in their past eight games. Jordan Binnington made 34 saves.
“I think we did a lot of good things in this game,” Thomas said. “We had a lot of chances. If one of those goes in, especially on the power play, it’s a different game.”
Kapanen tied it 2-2 at 12:11 of the third period, scoring on a short-handed breakaway after Brandon Saad picked off Sean Durzi‘s pass at the blue line.
Vilardi put the Kings back in front 3-2 with 3:03 remaining. He received a pass near the left post and moved the puck to his forehand before going back to his backhand to lift a shot over Binnington.
Kevin Fiala scored into an empty net at 18:04 for the 4-2 final.
Carl Grundstrom put the Kings ahead 1-0 at 3:14 of the first period, redirecting Roy’s shot from the edge of the crease as he was getting shoved down by Marco Scandella.
Thomas tied it 1-1 at 18:05 on a rebound. Pavel Buchnevich had the primary assist on the play and has nine points (two goals, seven assists) during a five-game point streak.
“I felt like I had pretty busy feet, especially in the first period,” Korpisalo said. “A little nervous, you know, but kind of went, and I felt like myself in the second and third. Felt good.”
Adrian Kempe responded for the Kings to make it 2-1 at 12:50 of the second period. He chased down a lofted pass from Quinton Byfield and chipped a shot over Binnington, who had attempted a poke check.
NOTES: Vilardi scored for the third straight game. … McLellan said Byfield was all right after losing his balance and taking a hit to the head from Thomas in the third. … Defenseman Drew Doughty tied Luc Robitaille (1,077) for fourth in games played in Kings history. … Los Angeles was 1-for-3 on the power play. St. Louis was 0-for-3.
