Alex Turcotte and Warren Foegele scored in the first period, and the Kings beat the New York Rangers 5-1 on Saturday for their seventh win in eight games.

Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault also scored as the Kings handed the Rangers their ninth loss in 12 games. Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves.

Captain Anze Kopitar added two assists as the Kings chased Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin in the second period. Shesterkin allowed five even-strength goals on 21 shots.

Shesterkin, who entered the contest with a 10-10-1 record and a 2.90 GAA, allowed two goals in the first period, then three within the initial 5:04 of the second.

The three goals in the middle period — which came in a span of 2:18 by Byfield, Kempe and Danault — sent Shesterkin to the bench in favor of backup Jonathan Quick, a former King.

“It was a horrendous first period,’’ Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said after the Rangers lost for the ninth time in their last 12 games. “It’s frustrating. To start a game like that in our building is bad ... You’re not going to win games if you start like that.”

Shesterkin, who agreed to a record eight-year, $92 million contract extension earlier this month, won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 2021-22 when he was 36-13-4 with a 2.07 GAA. He won 37 games in 2022-23 and 36 last season as the Rangers finished with the NHL’s best record.

But the 28-year-old Russian netminder has struggled at times this season. He also was yanked after allowing five goals in a 6-1 loss to Buffalo on Nov. 7.

The Rangers, who had the league’s best record last season with 30 wins in 41 home games, fell to 7-8-1 at Madison Square Garden. That includes allowing five or more goals in six of their last 10 home contests.

Turcotte opened the scoring at 7:05, beating Shesterkin to finish a 2-on-1 break with Kempe. Foegele made it 2-0 at 15:06 of the first.

Filip Chytil scored his sixth goal for New York.

The Kings, who improved to 7-2-3 against Eastern Conference opponents, have allowed two goals or less in seven of their last eight games.