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Frolov, O'Sullivan carry Kings in rout

Feb 22, 2008 - 7:18 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Alexander Frolov recorded a hat trick and Patrick O'Sullivan had a goal and a career-high four assists as the Los Angeles Kings scored four times in just under seven minutes in the second period and cruised to a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

All-Star Anze Kopitar also tallied and Dan Cloutier made 32 saves for Los Angeles, which snapped a two-game losing streak.

"It's a great feeling," Frolov said. "We didn't play well last game (a 4-0 loss to Phoenix on Monday), but we were ready tonight. It was a huge game for us and we knew they would be desperate to get points. We were ready for them."

Martin Rucinsky scored the lone goal for St. Louis, which lost in regulation for the first time in six games (4-1-1).

"We had all kinds of chances in the first period and didn't score," said Blues coach Andy Murray, who also guided the Kings from 1999-2006. "That's as much a mistake as the defensive mistakes that we made in the second period."

Kopitar opened the scoring 6:43 into the second period. After O'Sullivan's slap shot from the right faceoff circle was stopped by Manny Legace, Kopitar backhanded the rebound past the All-Star goaltender for his 26th goal of the season.

Frolov doubled the advantage just 96 seconds later.

Michael Cammalleri raced up the wing and attempted a centering feed. The puck deflected off St. Louis rookie defenseman Erik Johnson's stick and then Legace before Frolov buried the rebound for his 17th tally.

After Frolov scored 2:36 later to make it 3-0, O'Sullivan cashed in during a power play with 6:37 left in the period to cap the outburst.

Defenseman Brad Stuart's wrist shot from just inside the blue line sailed over the net but caromed right to O'Sullivan, who was stationed at the right of the net. The 23-year-old tapped the puck past an out-of-position Legace for his 15th of the season.

"Our line was jumping and we got some good bounces, too," said O'Sullivan, who was moved to center the line of Frolov and Cammalleri. "Sometimes we (have) games where the other teams are getting lucky bounces. At this point, we're going to take everything we can get."

That ended the night for Legace, who finished with 13 saves. Making his NHL debut, Chris Beckford-Tseu came on and turned aside eight shots.

"We needed to be better on the defensive side, (and) they took advantage," Murray said.

Frolov completed his hat trick just 3:31 into the third period, tapping the puck in from the doorstep to give the Kings a 5-0 cushion. The play had to withstand a video review.

"I was pretty sure I touched it, but it was a scramble," Frolov said.

Rucinsky spoiled Cloutier's shutout bid by scoring a power-play goal with 4:02 remaining.

The victory was the netminder's first on home ice since being recalled on February 7 from Manchester of the American Hockey League.

"I think it was a very good game against a very hungry opponent. I'm definitely happy with the way it turned out," Cloutier said. "I think we had a heck of a second period to really open things up. Then in the third period, we really clamped down defensively and played well."