Husso, Blues shut out Kings, stay undefeated

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues set their record for most wins to begin a season with their fifth in a row, 3-0 against the Los Angeles Kings at Enterprise Center on Monday.

Ville Husso made 34 saves for his second NHL shutout, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice for the Blues, who defeated the Kings 7-3 here on Saturday.
"That's just the stats," Tarasenko said. "I think the successful formula is go game-to-game -- the next game against Colorado, another big game for us. Today's game is history. Yeah, we have 5-0, but like I said, we have room to improve, and I believe we can still play better."
Jonathan Quick made 32 saves for the Kings (1-4-1), who are 0-4-1 in their past five, all on the road.
"It's been a tough road trip," Kings defenseman Matt Roy said. "We were looking for better outcomes. When we're aggressive and we're hounding the puck, we're good, but at times, things break down. At the end of the day, we've got to limit our turnovers and keep the foot on the pedal."
Tarasenko scored at 3:08 of the third period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. He took a cross-ice pass from Torey Krug off the right boards and cut past Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson before lifting a shot over Quick's right shoulder from the low slot.

"That's just an unbelievable move and like you said, vintage 'Vladi,'" Blues center Robert Thomas said. "He's a player that can make those moves and you guys have seen it over the years, and I mean it was a beauty, and it's a ton of fun skating up the ice behind him, watching him make some magic. Big goal for the team and big goal for him."
Tarasenko's breakaway goal at 15:31 made it 2-0, a shot five-hole on Quick after Ivan Barbashev poked the puck ahead.
"He's been getting a lot of opportunities to score and they haven't gone in like he wants," Blues coach Craig Berube said of Tarasenko. "We want him to score too, and it was really good to see, and getting the second one was a big goal."
The Kings were outshot 10-0 to start the game, and then outshot the Blues 34-25 the final 52:29.
"We were tentative to begin with," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "We were on our heels a little bit. I think we were afraid to make mistakes. Once we got through that, we got a much better effort from everybody, starting with Quick in goal to keep us in it early.
"We have to score a goal obviously to win. We had a couple of individual mistakes that cost us. It's such a fine line when you're down a few 'D' men and it's not going in at the other end."
Husso made 27 saves the final two periods in his first start of the season.
"It was nice to get a win right away," Husso said. "… I felt good the whole game. A little nervous at the start, but that's part of it. But overall, I felt pretty good the whole 60 minutes."
David Perron's empty-net goal made it 3-0 at 18:45.
Kings defenseman Sean Walker injured his right knee after getting tangled up with Perron with 3:38 left in the first period.
"It's going to be the same as Drew (Doughty)," McLellan said. "We've got to get home and let our doctors look after him and evaluate everything. Obviously, he didn't return. He couldn't put any weight on it. It's not a minor injury by any means."
NOTES: Doughty, a defenseman, missed his second straight game with a knee injury. ... After starting the season with nine points (six goals, three assists) the first four games, Kings captain Anze Kopitar was held without a point in each game against the Blues. ... Tarasenko has a four-game point streak (three goals, three assists) and has 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) in 25 games against Los Angeles. ... Perron has five points (four goals, two assists) in the past three games. ... Barbashev has a five-game point streak (three goals, two assists). ... Husso shut out the Minnesota Wild on May 12 in his last start of last season.