LOS ANGELES — Simon Gagne scored two goals and added an assist, Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Jarret Stoll each scored a goal and added an assist, and Jonathan Quick stopped all 27 shots he faced, to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-0 blowout of the St. Louis Blues, in the Kings’ 2011-12 opener at Staples Center on October 18.

After Gagne got the Kings on the board at 7:20 of the first period, giving the Kings a 1-0 lead after one period, the Kings struck for two goals in the second and in the third periods.

Stoll and Brown scored 3:29 apart in the second period, with Brown’s goal at 15:05 coming on a five-on-three power play.

Kopitar and Gagne closed out the scoring in the third period.

Jaroslav Halak got the start in goal for the Blues, making 14 saves. He was replaced by Brian Elliott at the 0:23 mark of the third period, when Kopitar’s wrist shot from just inside the top of the right circle beat him through the five-hole (between his leg pads)…a soft goal.

Elliott allowed a goal on six shots.

Quick earned his first shutout of the season, and the 15th of his National Hockey League career.

Raw Audio Interviews

(Extraneous material and dead air have been removed; requires Adobe Flash Player):

Simon Gagne (1:07) https://frozenroyalty.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/gagne101811.mp3 https://frozenroyalty.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/quick101811.mp3 Jonathan Quick (0:45) Jarret Stoll (1:08) https://frozenroyalty.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/stoll101811.mp3 https://frozenroyalty.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/kopitar101811.mp3 Anze Kopitar (0:45) Terry Murray (7:05) https://frozenroyalty.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/murray101811.mp3

NOTES:

Kopitar now has points in all five games this season (four goals and five assists for nine points). Four of those have been multi-point games.

Kopitar is ranked second in the NHL in overall scoring, through games played on October 18. He is tied with league leader Phil Kessel of the Toronto Maple Leafs in points.

of the Toronto Maple Leafs in points. With two assists, Justin Williams also has points in all five games (two goals and five assists for seven points).

also has points in all five games (two goals and five assists for seven points). Gagne has points in four straight games (three goals and four assists for seven points).

Kopitar, Williams and Gagne have combined to score nine of the Kings’ 14 goals this season.

Quick, who has stopped 119 of 124 shots in four games this season (3-0-1, .960 save percentage) is now one shutout behind Jamie Storr for second overall in Kings history.

Quick is now 18-4-3 in his career in October.

Kopitar has 70 points (26 goals and 44 assists for 70 points) in 64 career games in October.

The Kings are 19-8-3 in October since 2009-10.

Game Highlights From NHL Video On YouTube

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