Kings face Blues tonight
Listen to this articleAfter a close game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Los Angeles Kings have an even tougher opponent tonight: the St. Louis Blues.
The two teams have comparable records and are separated by just one point. The Kings have won six of their last seven games and the Blues are on a five-game losing streak, their last three losses in over time. Their game against the Anaheim Ducks Friday went to a shootout, so the Blues could be very tired when they take the ice at Staples Center tonight.
This is the last game of a six game road trip for the Blues, who have had a terrible trip. A win here could send them home on a high note, so it isn’t a game the Kings can take lightly. They barely got the win over the Maples Leafs on Thursday.
Kings fans were treated to the Kings’s two new members: Vincent Lacavalier and Luke Schenn. They came over from the Philadelphia Flyers in a trade Wednesday (Jan. 6). Lacavalier got his first point as a King when he assisted on Jake Muzzin’s goal in the third period.
The Kings won that game, 2-1.
Below is Claudia Gestro’s video report from Thursday’s game.
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UPDATE: The St. Louis Blues will be heading home on a high note, after beating the Kings in a shootout.
It was very tight, defensive game, with a scoreless first period. Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings just over nine minutes into the second period, assisted by Milan Lucic. But Alex Pietrangelo followed less than three minutes later with a score for the Blues, assisted by Vladimir Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera.
The third period was scoreless, but it had the big hit on Magnus Pääjärvi by Brayden McNabb that gave the Kings 15 minutes of penalties and sent L.A. coach Darryl Sutter off the hook. You can watch this video and just imagine what the coach is saying. After the game Jake Muzzin said, “It’s unfortunate. It’s a tough call for the refs. It happens fast. The call was what it was and we had to kill the penalty, and that’s what we did.”
The game went to a three-on-three overtime and when that didn’t produce any scores, the game went to a shootout, the second night in a row for St. Louis. The Kings had many chances to win the game and enough tries in the shootout, but it was Troy Brouwer who finally ended the game with a wrist shot that sailed over Jonathan Quick’s glove and into the net. Quick’s reaction resulted in a broken stick off the frame of the net.
After the game Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock said, “It is four games in a row now that we have really dug in. You get it into overtime or extra time, and you are going to win some and lose some. We now have played really well for four or five games in a row. We just have to keep it going.”
Final score: 2-1 St. Louis Blues.
Next game for the Kings will be Monday, at Staples Center against the Detroit Redwings. The Blues will be at home Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils.
Photos and video by Claudia Gestro.
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