Preview: Kings at Blues
The St. Louis Blues struggled to locate their offense during their just-completed three-game road trip, getting shut out on two occasions to return to Enterprise Center for Monday's contest against the Los Angeles Kings with their tail between their legs. The Blues answered a 4-1 win at Vegas on Friday with a 4-0 setback in San Jose the following night to fall to 1-3-0 in their last four outings.
"We just can't keep coming and saying, 'OK, it's good one night' and 'it's not good the next night.' We have to demand it of ourselves that we bring it night after night for 60 minutes," St. Louis coach Mike Yeo told reporters. The loss to the Sharks dropped the Blues to 4-2-0 against Pacific Division foes, but St. Louis has won six of the last eight encounters with Los Angeles. The Kings fell for the fourth time in five games with a 5-3 setback to Nashville to drop to 1-5-0 versus Central Division representatives. "Again, it comes down to the specialty teams," said Los Angeles coach Willie Desjardins, whose team has the 29th-ranked power play and 22nd-ranked penalty kill. "It's something I do believe that we can be better in that. We'll get that part going."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE KINGS (6-12-1): With Trevor Lewis (fractured foot) listed as week-to-week, Los Angeles recalled fellow forward Austin Wagner from Ontario of the American Hockey League on Sunday. The 21-year-old Wagner made his NHL debut with the Kings on Oct. 5 and has failed to score in eight games with the club this season. Rookie Cal Petersen, who is the fourth goaltender that Los Angeles has used in 2018-19, has turned aside 72 shots in his last two contests.
ABOUT THE BLUES (7-8-3): Ryan O'Reilly, who leads St. Louis in goals (10), assists (13) and points (23), was held off the scoresheet in two meetings with the Kings in 2017-18. Brayden Schenn has yet to score a goal in the Gateway City this season, but has registered all six of his assists at home. The 27-year-old Schenn has just two tallies in 10 career encounters against Los Angeles, which selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles captain C Anze Kopitar, who scored the decisive goal in the shootout of Friday's 2-1 win over Chicago, snapped a career high-tying five-game point drought the following night by recording a goal and an assist.
2. Blues G Jake Allen owns a 5-2-0 mark with one shutout, a 1.94 goals-against average and .939 save-percentage in eight career games (seven starts) against the Kings.
3. Cardinals OF Harrison Bader will drop the ceremonial puck before Monday's game.
PREDICTION: Blues 2, Kings 1
The St. Louis Blues struggled to locate their offense during their just-completed three-game road trip, getting shut out on two occasions to return to Enterprise Center for Monday's contest against the Los Angeles Kings with their tail between their legs. The Blues answered a 4-1 win at Vegas on Friday with a 4-0 setback in San Jose the following night to fall to 1-3-0 in their last four outings.
"We just can't keep coming and saying, 'OK, it's good one night' and 'it's not good the next night.' We have to demand it of ourselves that we bring it night after night for 60 minutes," St. Louis coach Mike Yeo told reporters. The loss to the Sharks dropped the Blues to 4-2-0 against Pacific Division foes, but St. Louis has won six of the last eight encounters with Los Angeles. The Kings fell for the fourth time in five games with a 5-3 setback to Nashville to drop to 1-5-0 versus Central Division representatives. "Again, it comes down to the specialty teams," said Los Angeles coach Willie Desjardins, whose team has the 29th-ranked power play and 22nd-ranked penalty kill. "It's something I do believe that we can be better in that. We'll get that part going."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE KINGS (6-12-1): With Trevor Lewis (fractured foot) listed as week-to-week, Los Angeles recalled fellow forward Austin Wagner from Ontario of the American Hockey League on Sunday. The 21-year-old Wagner made his NHL debut with the Kings on Oct. 5 and has failed to score in eight games with the club this season. Rookie Cal Petersen, who is the fourth goaltender that Los Angeles has used in 2018-19, has turned aside 72 shots in his last two contests.
ABOUT THE BLUES (7-8-3): Ryan O'Reilly, who leads St. Louis in goals (10), assists (13) and points (23), was held off the scoresheet in two meetings with the Kings in 2017-18. Brayden Schenn has yet to score a goal in the Gateway City this season, but has registered all six of his assists at home. The 27-year-old Schenn has just two tallies in 10 career encounters against Los Angeles, which selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles captain C Anze Kopitar, who scored the decisive goal in the shootout of Friday's 2-1 win over Chicago, snapped a career high-tying five-game point drought the following night by recording a goal and an assist.
2. Blues G Jake Allen owns a 5-2-0 mark with one shutout, a 1.94 goals-against average and .939 save-percentage in eight career games (seven starts) against the Kings.
3. Cardinals OF Harrison Bader will drop the ceremonial puck before Monday's game.
PREDICTION: Blues 2, Kings 1
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