The Flames are back in action tomorrow night when they visit the Anaheim Ducks, looking to improve on their 31-25-15 record.
"Nothing was really going (well) for us tonight," said Rasmus Andersson. "Tough one. New game tomorrow, we've got to come out better. We've got to have a better first, second and third period tomorrow if we're going to have any chance to win. Obviously, not really much to say except that it was a terrible game by us.
"Our d-zone (coverage) was not good enough. We were not good enough with the puck. We didn't get through the neutral zone, we didn't have any forecheck. ... I was terrible tonight. I've got to be better.
"Everyone's got to step up tomorrow."
Head Coach Darryl Sutter echoed Andersson's thoughts.
"They jumped all over us - all over our mistakes in the first period," he said. "This wasn't about energy. It was about getting out-played."
The Kings opened the scoring at 8:15 after a series of breakdowns allowed Grundstrom to walk in, virtually uncontested. Zach McEwan got the play started by winning a battle down low and throwing a backhand pass into the slot. Rasmus Kupari got a piece of it en route, redirecting the pill - perfectly - onto the stick of Grundstrom, who faked a shot before tucking it home on the backhand.
Doughty made it a 2-0 Kings lead at 11:16, walking the right point and buying all kinds of time for traffic to develop in front. Once there, he uncorked a wrister from 35 feet out, beating Markstrom - who had taken a peek to his left - in the bottom-right corner.
And the Kings kept coming.
On their very next shot less than a minute later, Vilardi put the homeside up by three, burying a one-timer over the glove after a lapse in coverage, stemming from a turnover behind the net.
Finally, a powerplay strike by Arvidsson - off a pretty feed from Kempe - made it a 4-0 game at 15:46, capping a tough opening frame that saw the Flames get out-shot 14-3.
The visitors didn't record a shot in the final 12:43 of the period, but had 1:05 left on a powerplay to open the second period
Toffoli got the Flames on the board early in the frame, converting an Elias Lindholm centring pass through the wickets of Pheonix Copley. Mikael Backlund picked up the other assist - the 300th of his NHL career.
The former King, meanwhile, now has 29 goals on the year, extending his career high in points to 62.
The Flames went right back to the powerplay when Copley was charged with tripping Toffoli less than a minute after the goal - and while the visitors did get a couple of good looks, they were unable to bring themselves any closer on the scoreboard.
And after that, the rally stalled.
