Preview: The St. Louis Blues (29-27-6) face the Los Angeles Kings (31-20-8) just 4 days after facing them in St. Louis. The forward lines and defense pairs remain the same and Jordan Binnington is in between the pipes and has been tremendous in his last four games. For LA Darcy Kuemper. The Kings are 19-3 -3 at home this season…the best home record in the league… and hold the 3rd place in the Pacific Division. The Blues are 11-5-1 against the Pacific this year. This is their 2nd of 6 straight road games.
Each team scores late in period 1…
A fairly cautious start to the game ..five minutes in and a total of three shots on goal…two for the Blues. Pavel Buchnevich with the best chance of either team with a strong push to the net.
Blues to the man-advantage at 6:39. But they only muster one shot on the PP.
With 1:10 left in the period Jake Neighbours shows off his silky mitts after stealing the puck at center he skated in and flips a backhander up over Kuemper. That was the Blues 10th shot of the period. 1-0. Jake’s 3rd goal in 5 games. Colton Parayko with an assist.
The next shift the Blues give up the blueline and with 7 seconds left the Kings tie it up at 1…their third shot.
LA takes a roughing penalty with 15 seconds left in the period…and 1:45 will carry over to the 2nd period. Shots were 10 to 4 in favor of the Blues…tied at 1. LA with 8 D-zone turnovers.
Each team with a goal in period 2…
Blues start the 2nd period on the powerplay. Each team with 1 shot during the penalty time. Blues are 0 for 2 on the PP.
Blues back to the powerplay at 5:12…crosschecking of Robert Thomas into the boards. Blues have struggled entering the Kings end as they are defending the Blueline with 4 players…showing why they are 8th in the league on the penalty kill. Blues with 1 shot.
With 9:46 left in the period a weird bounce off the side of the net and the puck finds its way behind Binnington…Kings up by 1 on their 11th shot.
With 55 seconds left in the period LA takes a roughing penalty…need a goal…4th PP of the game for the Blues…none for LA. Robert Thomas with 46 seconds left…fires one from the slot top shelf to tie the game at 2. Pavel Buchnevich with a great pass from the corner. Cam Fowler with the 2nd assist. Thomas extends his point streak to 11 games with his 17th.
Justin Faulk takes a phantom tripping penalty…with 35 seconds left…1:30 will carry over to the 3rd.
We are tied at 2 after 2…Blues lead in shots 19 to 13.
Period 3…
Blues to kill off 1:25 of Kings PP…and they do ..only allowed 1 shot.
And another penalty against the Blues…Brayden Schenn for hooking…1:59 into the period…a good kill again allowing only 1 shot.
5 MINUTES!! Blues with 27 shots to the Kings 19…tied at 2. End-to-end action…and we go to overtime…Blues get 1 point…looking for the 2nd point. Shote 29 to 19 Blues.
OT!! Blues win the draw…back and forth…Binnington with 2 huge saves on breakaways…gutsy defensive effort by the Blues…Binnington with another breakaway save with 10 seconds left in OT!! Kings with 4 shots…Blues with
SHOOTOUT!!
1st round Kings…Save by Binnington
Blues…Neighbours…scores…1 to 0 Blues!
2nd round Kings…Save Binnington Blues…Schenn…no goal
3rd round Kings…score…1 to 1
Blues…Thomas…scores…Blues win the shootout 2 to 1!! And the game 3 to 2!!