ANAHEIM — One team was razor sharp on Friday night at Honda Center.

The other was not.

Or more to the point, one team’s goaltender was sharp.

The other team’s goalie was not.

The Kings capitalized on an early bolt of lightning in the form of a Carl Grundstrom goal and then chipped away at the Ducks where they were the most vulnerable en route to a commanding 4-1 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 17,174, the first capacity crowd of the season.

“It’s really tough to swallow that one,” Ducks defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. “We just didn’t have the compete level and the intensity that we needed. It’s embarrassing. We know where we are in the standings, we know where they are. They’re our crosstown rival. I think this was the biggest game of our season so far coming into it with all the implications. It’s just tough how we responded.”

The Kings’ victory, their fourth in a row, coupled with Vegas’ loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Friday vaulted them past the Golden Knights and into second place in the Pacific Division standings. The Ducks remained in fifth place, out of a playoff position, after their two-game winning streak ended.

Assistant coach Trent Yawney coached the Kings after the team announced before the game that Todd McLellan was placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols.

“It’s big,” Kings right wing Adrian Kempe said of defeating the Ducks. “We haven’t played these guys in a while. Going back to the last game against Arizona, coming into this game, we felt like we needed to play a lot better to beat these guys. They’re a better team and they’re (almost) in the playoff spots, too.

“So, we have to be on our toes right away. I think we did a good job of that. For the rest of the season now every game is going to be huge and every point we can get is going to be big. We can’t relax now. We’re in a good spot right now and we need to keep that, we can’t fall off like we’ve done previously.”

Goaltender John Gibson was off his All-Star form, giving up four goals on 20 shots before Ducks coach Dallas Eakins had seen enough with 5:43 left in the second period. Eakins replaced Gibson with Anthony Stolarz in the second period for the second time in five games.

“I was just trying to light something under our team,” Eakins said. “It had nothing to do with John. It was 4-0 in the second and we were trying to find as much rest as we could for him. It was time to get ‘Stolie’ in there and try to get our team going. I don’t like pulling goalies at all.”

Grundstrom’s goal was all but unstoppable, coming as it did on a centering pass from rookie Quinton Byfield. Grundstrom had beaten Ducks defenseman Simon Benoit to the front of Gibson’s net and smacked Byfield’s pass into the net to give the Kings a 1-0 lead 7:50 into the game.

Kempe sandwiched goals around Anze Kopitar’s power-play strike as the Kings built a 4-0 lead by the 12:51 mark of the second period. Kempe’s first goal was a laser from the left faceoff circle. Kopitar’s goal was off a one-timed shot and Kempe beat Gibson with a rather ordinary shot.

Kempe’s goals were his team-leading 24th and 25th, extending his career high.

The final two were shots Gibson might have stopped on another night, but the plain fact is he hasn’t looked like the goalie who carried his teammates on his shoulders for much of the season leading up to the third All-Star Game appearance of his career. He’s been only so-so since then.

Gibson has won only once since the Ducks’ Feb. 5 game in Las Vegas, a 7-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 19, after the Ducks staked him to a 5-0 lead by the early minutes of the second period. Stolarz backstopped the Ducks’ 4-3 overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

Eakins has lifted Gibson only one other time this season and that was for an injury suffered in the second period of a 1-0 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 11. Stolarz replaced him to start the third period. Eakins said this was a matter of fatigue rather than injury or performance.

“No goalie likes coming out of a game,” Eakins said. “(Gibson) is a good soldier. He understands. I think he’s been greatly fatigued. You come out of it (the All-Star Weekend) and you’re right back at practice and in games. There’s no rest. I’m not sure we’re there yet (over the fatigue).

“Hopefully, we’ll be there soon.”

The Kings had no such problems in goal. Jonathan Quick’s burden was eased by the four-goal lead and by the Ducks’ inability to get through a thicket of sticks. The Kings’ pressure without the puck knocked the Ducks off their customary smooth-skating game. The Kings disrupted passes and shots.

Troy Terry gave the Ducks a jolt of energy with his team-leading 27th goal, weaving his way through traffic and beating Quick with a rising shot that cut the Kings’ lead to 4-1 at 2:12 of the third period. Ryan Getzlaf and Adam Henrique assisted on Terry’s goal.

Sonny Milano rang a shot off the iron moments later, giving Ducks fans hope that a rally might be in order. The Ducks continued to pressure Quick and the Kings, but a comeback from a four-goal deficit was pretty far-fetched with less than one period to play and the Kings at the top of their game.