Kings Cool Off Blues

Roman Turek took the blame for the end of the St. Louis Blues' 12-game unbeaten streak.

"They won this game because they scored three soft goals," Turek said after the Los Angeles Kings' 5-2 victory Thursday night. "Bad goals. I feel bad because three soft goals in one game is too much."

The Blues gave up a season-high 36 shots and Turek allowed two goals to trickle between his pads and a third that went under his arm.

St. Louis, which outscored its opponents 57-23 during the streak, missed a chance to take over first overall in the NHL, remaining one point behind Colorado.

"For whatever reason, we got off to a little lackadaisical start," Blues captain Chris Pronger said. "And they seemed to have an answer every time we scored.

"Hopefully, we can get on a run like the last time we lost."

"I think it was a product of how we played overall," Quenneville said. "We should all take blame and fault for what didn't happen."

Brad Chartrand got the go-ahead goal in the second period, his first of the season, and Scott Thomas also got his first goal as the Kings ended a five-game losing streak and six-game winless slump. Mathieu Schneider had a goal and an assist and Jere Karalahti and Jozef Stumpel each had two assists.

"You've got to play a few good games before you get a reward" coach Andy Murray said. "We've played two real solid games back to back now.

"I'd like to bottle it up for the next time we play against them."

Craig Conroy and Jamal Mayers scored for the Blues, whose 11-0-1 streak had tied a 32-year-old franchise record. The 1968 team was 5-0-7 from Nov. 10-Dec. 8.

Luc Robitaille got his 19th goal on a power play and Thomas scored his first as the Kings pulled away in the third. Robitaille deflected Rob Blake's slap shot from the point at 11:24 and Thomas scored on a deflection from in front at 12:57 for a 5-2 lead.

"This is the best team in the league and you've got to outwork them if you're going to win," Robitaille said. "I think that's what we did."

The Kings got off 18 shots in the first period, a season high against the stingy Blues. Conroy, left alone in front, beat Steve Passmore to put St. Louis ahead at 17:14 and the Kings answered 57 seconds later on Emerson's rebound shot from the side of the net.

Mayers put the Blues in front again at the end of a flurry at 4:29 of the second. Schneider tied it at 7:56 off a pass from Kelly Buchberger at the top of the left circle, and Chartrand put the Kings ahead at 9:58.

Turek was hugging the net on Chartrand's shot from the side, but the puck somehow made it between his skates.

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