CARSON — The Galaxy returned to the MLS playoffs with a dominant night Saturday.

Facing a team in the Colorado Rapids that they defeated twice in the regular season, the Galaxy took a lead into halftime, then erupted for four goals in the second half to secure a 5-0 rout in front of 24,537 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

The opening round of the playoffs is played in a best-of-3 format for a second consecutive season.

The second game of the series is Friday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado. If a third game is necessary, it would be Nov. 9 back at DHSP. If the Galaxy wrap up the series Friday, they would have nearly a three-week wait before the start of the Western Conference semifinals.

That was far from their mind Saturday, however.

Dejan Joveljic opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, giving the Galaxy a 1-0 lead at halftime. On the other side of the half, the Galaxy put the game away quickly. In the 52nd minute, John Nelson got forward and scored and two minutes later Riqui Puig, assisted by Joveljic, got on the score sheet.

Joveljic added a second goal, scoring in the 75th minute. Then in the 87th minute, Puig added his second goal of the night for a 5-0 lead.

The Galaxy finished second in the Western Conference, losing the top seed on goal differential with LAFC. The second seed is the highest for the Galaxy since 2014, the year of the club’s last MLS Cup victory.

The Galaxy won both meetings between the teams in the regular season. Despite, that success, Galaxy coach Greg Vanney didn’t expect his team to overlook the Rapids.

“Just because you’re home doesn’t mean there’s any guarantees, you’ve got to show up with the right intensity, you’ve got to execute in key moments, you’ve got to do a lot of things right, in the playoffs to advance,” he said Thursday.

While the attack was buzzing through the Rapids defense, the Galaxy didn’t allow the Colorado attack any clear or true opportunities. Colorado didn’t have a shot on goal, while the Galaxy was credited with nine.