St. Louis gives Kings the Blues

  Going into this game the Blues had lost five games straight. The Kings had won 19 of the last 24 games against the franchise, winning the last 11 home games (including playoffs.) The Blues had lost 5 major players. So of course the Kings were going to lose this one. It’s just their style. (Actually the Kings have broken this trend this season and the loss should be credited to them; you’ll see.)

To say the Kings outplayed the Blues in the first is an understatement. There was one faceoff in the Kings defensive zone andd that was immediately following a McNabb penalty. The Kings had 7 SOG to the Blues 3 (and 3 was only because of a late power play. It was 1 until the last 5 minutes of the period.) The Kings hit three times as much – 18-6. The scoresheet only credits 2 Blues blocked shots but watching the game you’d swear there was 5 times that amount. The Kings had 3 times the power plays – 3-1 – though neither team converted any. The Blues, who have 5 key players out to injury, seemed to want to slow down the game more than anything else and succeeded.

The second was less of a sleepy affair, though even that took 8:20. Luke Schenn, appearing in his second game with the club, ended up in a fight I’m still not convinced shouldn’t have earned Robert Bortuzzo another penalty for instigating. (Bortuzzo was responsible for two of the three Blues penalties on the first period.) Schenn had a clean hit against the boards on Dmitrij Jaskin in the Kings zone and seemed to want to continue playing, only Bortuzzo skated after him and started throwing punches. Schenn went immediately back to the locker room instead of the box but tuned later in the period.

Finally, Anze Kopitar scored the first goal of the game. And what a fine goal it was. Jake Muzzin to Milan Lucic to Kopitar who managed to roof the shot backhanded past a bewildered Brian Elliott. In true Kings fashion, the Blues retaliated 2:39 later with a goal from Alex Pietrangelo. It was their 6th shot. While that doesn’t sound like Quick was doing well but the shot was gorgeous and this was over 35 minutes into the contest. 6 shots in 35 minutes. The Kings had plenty more chances –  a stellar breakaway by Pearson I predicted he’d want back by the game’s end didn’t go. (I was right.)

About 17 minutes into the second, Drew Doughty drew what I can only imagine was a painful penalty when Jaskin slashed his stick right into Doughty’s crotch. He doubled over in pain. The Kings kept the delayed penalty going for a good 45 seconds before the Blues touched the puck. Unfortunately the penalty didn’t rresult in a goal, so we went into the third period still tied, despite all odds. The third saw a lot of extra circular activities after the whistle blew. The turning point came during play, however, when Brayden McNabb “charged” Magnus Paajarvi. I don’t want to editorialize but the call was bogus. McNabb’s feet never left the ground and I don’t know how you can charge if it’s your butt who hits the guy with the puck. None the less he was given a five minute major and a game misconduct. Daryl Sutter didn’t like the call. Neither did Drew Doughty and Dustin Brown, who were both seen talking to the ref on McNabb’s behalf. No hockey expert I know liked the call. Yet it stood, and the Kings found themselves on the wrong side of a major penalty. Instead of giving up the game, the Kings surged ahead. Their anger over the injustice fueled an amazing penalty kill, where the best chances came shorthanded. Jeff Carter had a stunning breakaway. Tyler Toffoli snuck the puck away to Kopitar who held on for a good while, then toyed with the Blues by shooting it back up to Doughty in the neutral zone who skated back to Quick then cleared it straight back to the Blues zone.

The clock dwindled down and it looked like the Blues would get one (undeserved) point. The 3-on-3 overtime wasn’t as exciting as usual, as it generated few chances and even fewer good chances. The game headed to a shootout. It took 7 shooters to decide the outcome (including newcomer Vincent Lecavalier!) It wasn’t favorable for the Kings. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise well played game for the Kings. They’ll play at Staples Center again Monday evening against the Detroit Red Wings.